On Thursday night, a group of burly men, acting on behalf of the speaker and the chairwoman, the executive, the ANC and, what seemed to be our establishment, physically removed a group of democratically elected MPs from our Parliament. The people who were removed had committed no violence, threatened no violence, and have no track record of serious violence. All they had was their voice. And if those in charge had had their way, no one would have been able to see it, or actually know it had happened in real time. A large part of our democracy died last night; the ANC can never again claim that it is ruling for the benefit of all of us.