The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has demanded that Parliament show some moral fortitude and leadership and crack the whip over increasing delinquent Members of Parliament (MPs).
Cosatu’s Parliamentary Co-ordinator Matthew Parks bemoaned how the MPs had not received their first salaries yet, but four MPs have already found time and appetite to flirt with anarchy and juvenile antics.
Moreover, Parks said the the electoral court has recently ruled that Visvin Reddy an Umkhonto weSizwe (MKP) MP, is guilty of inciting violence during the election campaign.
This comes after Reddy public statements threatening chaos and rioting in the event that the MK Party was not registered in march leading up to the general elections
Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Renaldo Gouws and another MKP MP, Andile Mngxitama, have been stirring controversy on social media with hate speech violence and calls for violence.
Parks said Zizi Kodwa, an African National Congress MP, has officially taken office despite facing corruption charges and again parliament is grappling with the possibility of impeached former Judge John Hlophe being appointed to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
‘’Parliament is in a moment of ignominy,’’ Parks said.
In a statement released to the media, Parks said it has only been ordinary workers , the working class communities and society who have paid the price for this shameful collapse in ethics amongst some of those elected to lead.
Parliament over the years, has been found desperately wanting and gone out of its way to turn a blind eye to misdemeanours of public representatives Parks said.
‘’We expect the seventh parliament to signal a firm break with its tradition of shame. It needs to amend its rules and actively sanction and expel those MPs who cannot be bothered to abide by the code of conduct, let alone the values of the Constitution,’’ said Parks.
“The tasks of the MPs are to pass laws and hold government accountable for their implementation,’’ Parks said.
In addition, Parks said the society should not be expected to tolerate that the morally deficient be entrusted with sacrosanct responsibilities.
Parks noted that South Africans have the right to expect and insist upon the highest ethical and moral standards amongst those elected and privileged to lead.
IOL