Opposition Parties Cold Towards New Speaker

Opposition parties in the National Assembly have intensified calls for an investigation into the newly elected Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

Mapisa-Nqakula has been elected as the Speaker of the National Assembly (NA) in a landslide win against her opponent Annelie Lotriet, a member of the Democratic Alliance.

While some parties were not surprised by the outcome of the election, they haven’t held back about their dissatisfaction.

DA chief whip, Natasha Mazzone believes Mapisa-Nqakula will cast a shadow on the National Assembly’s accountability and transparency.

She says the DA maintains that Mapisa-Nqakula is unfit for the position of Speaker and that her election makes a complete mockery of Parliament and its principles of transparency, accountability and integrity.

The Freedom Front (FF) Plus holds the same view.

Party’s Chief Whip, Corné Mulder says her statement that she will, with the cooperation of the other Members of Parliament, protect the integrity of the NA is ironic as she is already shrouded in controversy.

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) wants Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence to speed up its investigations of bribery and extortion into Mapisa-Nqakula.

Party’s chief whip, Narend Singh, says they hope she gives her fullest cooperation to those kinds of investigations that will ensue.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) elected not to take part in Thursday’s proceedings, claiming the ANC’s arrangement was a sham.