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News - Date: 06 May 2005
Last week's expulsion of official opposition leader Michael Holford from the Limpopo Legislature is believed to be the first incident of its kind in South African parliamentary history.
Holford was ordered to leave the legislature chamber on Thursday, after he refused to adhere to a request from the Speaker, Dr Tshenwani Farisani, to withdraw from the house, claiming that the Speaker's action was unconstitutional.
A statement issued by the Democratic Alliance said this action against its provincial leader signalled "a bad week for democracy." Another ruling, which declared questioning as unacceptable during budget debates in the legislature, was also rejected by the DA as "unfounded".
The bizarre circumstances which led to Holford's departure from the House were afterwards deplored by some members of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), who expressed their regrets to the DA leader. The incident occurred during a debate on the budget vote of the MEC for Agriculture.
Holford had criticised the ANC's handling of the land issue and also complained that the rights of the Afrikaans-speaking community were being trampled underfoot.
In the process, Holford described some ANC members as "vultures," and this caused uproar in the house. When asked to rephrase his comments, the DA leader used the word "scavengers." This response continued to infuriate ANC members, who called for his suspension from the proceedings. When asked to leave, Holford refused, saying he had complied with the Speaker's rephrasing request, and had not been called upon to withdraw his statement. Therefore he could not be asked to withdraw from the chamber, he insisted.
The DA leader was then taken by the arm and escorted from the chamber by a legislature official. Immediately after his expulsion from the House, Holford said the ANC wanted to prevent him, at all costs, from speaking during this debate, because they feared he would "spill the beans" regarding a number of sensitive issues.
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