DA MP refuses to withdraw 'rubbish' comment
The State of the Nation Address debate has been brought to a halt again with the DA wanting proceedings to be adjourned.
The opposition party were angered by some of the rulings by Chairperson Raseriti Tau during the debate.
Tau had asked Cope leader Mosioua Lekota to refrain from using the word faction after an MP objected to it.
But DA Chief whip John Steenhuisen took issue with this.
"The point of order, chair, is that you are suppressing Honourable Lekota's right to freedom of speech. There's nothing unparliamentary about the word faction. If you're ruling that this is unparliamentary...no, this happens every time you are in the house. Every time you're the Chair this house degenerates. You have no control of this house, none whatsoever," he said.
"Honourable Steenhuisen, I've heard what you are saying," Tau responded.
When Tau explained his decision, Steenhuisen said he was talking rubbish. When asked to withdraw the word, Steenhuisen refused and was asked to leave the house.
Earlier, the DA was labelled a nest harbouring racists by ANC MPL Sihle Zikalala during the debate.
"The people of KwaZulu-Natal have sent us to convey that they will never be confused by the DA's tired strategy of ranting black faces to mask its racist character. The DA is nothing else but an epicentre and fertile ground of racism," he said.
(File photo: Gallo Images)