Turning Parliament into just another secure government installation betrays SA’s democracy

The day after SAPS national commissioner Lieutenant-General Khehla Sitole and Police Minister Bheki Cele were requested by MPs worried about the militarisation of Parliament not to haul out the “sledgehammer to kill a fly”, security was stepped up.

The SAPS last week told MPs it was the SAPS that was in charge to “safeguard the Parliament as a strategic government installation and to ensure the safety and protection of VIPs within the parliamentary precinct”. And the SAPS responsibilities include “screening of the person who seeks access to determine if the person is a legitimate visitor and whether his/her reason for visiting the premises is a valid one”.

The Parliamentary Protection Services (PPS), which since 1994 has been in charge of security at the democratic Parliament, was relegated to admin such as issuing permits and keeping records of access. In one fell swoop the SAPS demoted long-established practice and institution at Parliament whose security policy talks to the protection and safety of everyone at Parliament – and honours Parliament as the People’s Assembly. The PPS is similar to the security entities in parliaments elsewhere in the world.

Yet, the Constitution has imposed an obligation on the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces (NCOP) in Sections 59 and 72 respectively that they “must facilitate public involvement in the legislative and other processes” both in the Chambers and in committees, “conduct its business in an open manner, and hold its sittings and those of its committees, in public”. These sections allow “reasonable measures to be taken to regulate public access” and “provide for the searching of any person…”.

But the security cluster long has had its eyes on clinching command and control of Parliament. The creeping securotisation of the Jacob Zuma administration has facilitated this, be it the signal jammers blocking cellphones at the 2015 State of the Nation Address (SONA) or the non-ceremonial soldiers armed with automatic weapons at SONA 2017.

In many ways Parliament has voluntarily conceded space. Garane’s suicide was right off the bat framed in security considerations – “Parliament enhances security…” was the headline on one of the first official statements.

And so, despite vocal opposition from the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) since late 2015, the State Security Agency (SSA) remains on the precinct. And the so-called bouncers, mostly former riot police officers, hired with the primary aim of evicting unruly MPs, actually the EFF, are part of day-to-day life at Parliament.

The PPS top post has remained vacant since the suspension and ultimate dismissal of the previous incumbent. While the job was advertised earlier in 2018, six months after the closing date no appointment has yet been announced. Instead the PPS grievance against the acting manager has been pushed from pillar to post for the past three months.

And then there is also the myth, propagated by both the SAPS and the security cluster, but also from within Parliament’s leadership, that the national legislature is a National Key Point. It is not. Only the presidential Tuynhuys office, the ministerial offices at 120 Plein Street and the House are such key points.

Two weeks after parliamentary manger Lennox Garane shot himself in his office – “It’s a protest suicide” said the funeral notice expressing the details of which his family has not been mincing its words – police finally saw, and grabbed their chance to impose security, SAPS-style.

• If guns, on the precinct are the issue, even putting a bag through a scanner is pointless – even now. The SAPS officials manning those scanners, even if they are actually looking at the screens rather than their cellphones, are not trained for this job. Will they spot, say, a gun that’s been taken apart? Without proper training, highly unlikely. The golden rule in this professional static protection job is that the watcher must change every 20 to 40 minutes. It’s a high stress/high focus job, where the required accuracy levels cannot be maintained for any longer without running the risk of serious lapses. The police officials stationed to do this job work a 12-hour shift, no rotation.


• Also regarding guns: On any given day there are dozens of those on the supposedly gun-free parliamentary precinct because the cops carry guns, as do the bodyguards. If the thinking is because these are police, they are “safe”, it’s an illusion. What if a police official goes on a rampage? It’s not unheard of. What about someone disarming a police officer? It’s not unheard of. In the days of Speaker Frene Ginwala and Secretary to Parliament Sindiso Mfenyana, bodyguards locked their guns in the gun safes found at all entrances to Parliament. No one carried weapons in what was a truly gun-free zone. Today, the keys to those gun safes are gone.


• Real security includes evacuation plans, safety drills and the like. But the last evacuation drill took place a couple of SONAs ago. Ironically, the emergency assembly area is in front of the National Assembly steps, the area that when the House is in session serves as a parking lot for ministerial cars. There is no rhyme or reason.