During a Parliamentary debate on 14 March reference was made by MP Pieter Groenewald of the FF+ to the escalating and brutal killing of white farmers in South Africa. He was interrupted by a loud and clear statement coming from ANC MP and Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Mduduzi Manana, shouting: “Bury them alive.”

“Incitement to murder is a crime in itself,” FN Spokesperson Daniël Lötter, said on Wednesday morning. “There we have a deputy minister sitting in Parliament and committing a crime for the whole world to see. And the Speaker does not ask him to leave the house, in fact she does not even reprimand him. Which is exactly why the world cannot be expected to have any respect or trust in the current South African Parliamentary system. If Manana is a supporter of the brutal killing of fellow South African citizens, he does not belong in government, he belongs in jail. Suspend him now!”

FN Leader, Hannes Engelbrecht pointed out that the Parliamentary Code of Conduct for MPs address behaviour such as that by Manana clearly. “His action in Parliament yesterday is in breach of every single stipulation of section four of this Code of Conduct,” Engelbrecht said. “Manana quite obviously is not interested in the welfare of all the citizens of this country. His statement was racist, discriminatory, criminal and not worthy of the public trust that was put in him. Front National cannot accept such behaviour. It, in fact, hints at the possibility that the South African Government willingly tolerates the crisis around farm murders in the country, if a Deputy Minister can state it in as many words and not be called to order. We challenge the ANC leadership to give us evidence of the contrary by immediately suspending Manana as MP and Deputy Minister.”

The Code of Conduct states:

4. STANDARDS OF ETHICAL CONDUCT

4.1 Members must:

4.1.1 abide by the principles, rules and obligations of this Code;

4.1.2 by virtue of the oath or affirmation of allegiance taken by all elected Members, uphold the law;

4.1.3 act on all occasions in accordance with the public trust placed in them;

4.1.4 discharge their obligations, in terms of the Constitution, to Parliament and the public at large, by placing the public interest above their own interests;

4.1.5 maintain public confidence and trust in the integrity of Parliament and thereby engender the respect and confidence that society needs to have in Parliament as a representative institution; and

4.1.6 in the performance of their duties and responsibilities, be committed to the eradication of all forms of discrimination.

Read the original article on Front Nasionaal SA – blad

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