Order! hon members, yesterday during the Declaration of Vote by the hon D Kohler-Barnard on the South African Police Service Amendment Bill, the hon Landers raised a point of order and asked whether the hon member was misleading the House by stating that section 179(2) of the Constitution gave the Directorate of Special Operations authority to collect intelligence.
I undertook to study Hansard before ruling on the matter. Having now had an opportunity to study the unrevised Hansard, I wish to rule as follows: In the course of her speech, hon Kohler-Barnard indeed said that -
In terms of section 179(2) of the Constitution, provision was made for the intelligence-gathering function of the DSO.
It is clear that her interpretation of this particular constitutional provision differs from the view held by the hon Landers. However, asking the Chair to determine whether hon Kohler-Barnard was misleading the House or not, places the Chair in the position of having to play arbiter in regard to two contradicting arguments by the hon members.
It is not the function of the Chair to determine the veracity or otherwise of the views held and espoused by members of the House, however outlandish they may appear to be.