Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s Online Letter
Dear friends and fellow South Africans,
Just hours before the President stands before Parliament and the nation to deliver his State of the Nation address, I have already been asked countless times what I foresee and what I hope to hear. When all this is over, at 20:30 tonight, we will move from speculating, to analyzing what the President said.
The opening of Parliament is always an important day on the calendar. I have been a Member of the National Assembly for almost two decades and I recall the formalities of the ceremony that accompanied each passing year.
I recall the early openings, when an atmosphere of camaraderie filled the day and staff members waved from the sides of the red carpet. There was a sense of dignity and gravity about the occasion. Outside the walls of Parliament, however, life continued fairly uninterrupted and only those at home during the day watched the broadcast on television.
Today’s opening is somehow different. The sense of dignity and gravity of years before has been replaced by a sense of high security and paparazzi.
Parliament has been a hive of activity throughout the day, but many of the main actors have saved their appearance for after hours. I was surprised when I came to my office this morning to find that Roeland Street had already been barricaded and cars were being diverted away from Parliament by a large contingent of officers.
Twelve hours before the event, arriving staff members were directed to a Search Park to have their vehicles scanned. One of our MPs was delayed in the Search Park for over half an hour, simply due to the slow processing of cars. Anyone authorized to enter Parliament on foot moved through security monitors and had their bags scanned at the gate, then again at the doors.
Yet the work day will be done by the time anything officially starts.
After 17:00, staff will not be able to leave until the streets open again at 21:00. Yet they will not be part of the festivities. They must remain in their offices, watching on television the events that are happening right outside. Even the SABC has been barred from filming from a balcony, as this might pose a security risk. Snipers on the surrounding rooftops incline them to obey.
As I await the President’s arrival, with Silver Falcons flying overhead, the idea is reinforced that the securocrats have taken over.
Today’s unnecessarily tight security procedures, meant to celebrate in grandiosity the opening of Parliament, have disrupted the life and activities of the citizens of Cape Town. Roads have been closed, searches made, traffic delayed, businesses and shops cut off from their customers, merely because the President, Ministers and members of the public are assembling in Parliament.
All this is unnecessary, especially because it was not requested by Parliament, where concerns were actually expressed about its necessity.
Certainly when the President, Ministers and members of the public assemble in Parliament next week, for the debate on the State of the Nation address, we will not see this kind of security. In fact, we won’t see anything out of the ordinary on any of the days throughout the year that the President is in Parliament answering questions or for important debates.
Never before have such extreme security measures been put in place, and we are not likely to see them again until the next opening of Parliament. It is difficult to get around the conclusion that all this is done as a display of grandeur by the security apparatus, to show politicians who is really in charge.
It is unnecessary choreography to the great dramatic parade of the opening of Parliament, performed to show confidence and power, while the country ails under the burden of its many unsolved problems. One can only hope that the President’s address will contain some substance, for we have all had enough show.
Yours in the service of the nation,
Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi MP