Madam Speaker and hon Deputy President, in the debate on the state of the nation address, SONA, we raised an issue which we thought had nothing to do with the cases in the courts.
It is the question of sections 4, 5 and 11 of the powers and privileges Act, and in our view and judgment this Act is in conflict with the provisions of the Constitution in that those sections grant the Presiding Officers of Parliament powers to usurp executive powers and command the security services of the country. Nothing could be more in conflict with the Constitution.
When is the Presidency going to bring that back? We requested that it be returned to Parliament so that Parliament should amend and expunge those sections and make us consistent with the Constitution. It is dangerous to keep that Act in place because the reason the police could come in here and assault Members of Parliament is because of that anomalous situation. This is very urgent, sir, and could you please do something about this.