In between all the drama and showboating from last night’s SONA address some of the real issues have generally been swept under the carpet. The issue that was at the heart of turning the occasion into a fiasco was the right of members of parliament to raise a point of order.

In case you missed the exact moment when guards / police / Gestapo forcibly removed EFF members from parliament, click HERE.

This is where it all gets very murky and subjective, so let’s get to the nitty-gritty. One of the rules for a joint sitting of Parliament allows for members to raise points of order. This from news24:

This rule states that “no member of Parliament may interrupt another, expect [we’re guessing they mean except] to bring attention to a point of order or a point of privilege…

A point of order is usually used by an MP to appeal that the rules aren’t being followed.

So when the EFF interrupted JZ about 90 seconds into his speech, what point of order were they bringing attention to? Well, we all know Zuma has been dodging the #paybackthemoney issue like the plague and has failed to answer the question on several occasions, including the fiasco that was August 21 (the day previously known as our darkest day in democracy). The EFF will therefore say they were within their rights to interrupt because (news24):

The party will argue that Zuma must answer the questions now because he didn’t do it before, and also hasn’t appeared again in the National Assembly.

So what of the two ladies overseeing last night’s ‘proceedings’? Well, they have the power to create new rules ‘under certain circumstances’, a wonderfully vague turn of phrase. News24 again:

This rule says that “the Speaker and the chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, acting together, may make a decision or create a rule in connection with any issue for which the rules don’t make provision.

Seeing as though a president has never before been interrupted during his SONA address, they can claim to have the right to create a new rule as they see fit.

I guess the long and the short of whether or not you think the EFF were acting within the rules depends on what side of the fence you sit. The guys having the biggest laugh of all? Those sitting behind their fences from abroad laughing at our expense as they pass video clips around next to the water cooler.

We have some Grade A egg on our faces at the moment and it smells rotten to me.

[source:news24]