On the streets of Cape Town, ahead of President Jacob Zuma’s arrival, we saw the South African Police Service (SAPS) clamp down on peaceful protestors, mainly from the Democratic Alliance, who were peacefully protesting against the energy crisis. The Public Order Policing Unit, dressed in full riot gear, backed up by a water cannon, intimidated, assaulted and arrested citizens (including a DA Member of Parliament) who raised their voices in protest against one of the many crises facing South Africa.

Meanwhile, in the heavily guarded Parliamentary Precinct, word had got out (despite the State’s illegal and sinister efforts) that the cellular network connectivity had been scrambled in the National Assembly. This is unconstitutional, and tramples on the freedom of the press, indicating that the Presiding Officers and the Executive wanted a limited flow of information to get to citizens and the world.

Furthermore, as it has now been established, despite the non-answer from the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Thandi Modise, police entered the National Assembly Chamber to remove an entire Opposition Caucus, despite only a handful of the Caucus interrupting the President’s weak address.

Despite the President completing his address, there has been little said about the content (or the lack thereof) of his address; even the centerpiece, which is a nine-point plan to jump start the economy and create jobs. Today, the focus is still, what has been dubbed, the ‘State of Chaos’.

Today, South Africans are still talking about how the Executive arm of Government thought it appropriate to scramble cellular communication in the National Assembly; Today, South Africans are still talking about how brute force was used to silence protestors on the city streets, and remove MPs from the Chamber.

In a single day, the ANC trampled on the hard work, over the last 20 years, of building South Africa’s Constitutional democracy.

A plethora of Constitutional freedoms and rights were suspended and damaged in the hours leading up to and during President Zuma’s State of the Nation Address, with the ANC unapologetically defending these anti-democratic practices in the aftermath.

We have a Speaker of Parliament and Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces having clearly drawn the line in the sand, with the ANC’s interests on one side and the country’s on the other side; all in defence of one man – President Zuma.

The Speaker of Parliament, Baleka Mbete, whom the DA has long maintained is not fit to serve, confirmed this, when she referred to Opposition MPs as “cockroaches”, clearly showing a lack of impartiality or respect for the Office of the Speaker. Furthermore, the decision by the Presiding Officers to unconstitutionally deploy police into the Chamber, when there was no threat to property or life, paints a picture of MPs being criminals.

When, this week, we respond to the President’s address, what guarantees are there that police won’t be sent into the Chamber when we speak the uncomfortable truths?

I have a question, which has been side-stepped, about the charges I laid against the President at the Nkandla police station. If I again ask this question under the current climate, will men in white shirts be sent into the Chamber to remove me, too?

The Houses of Parliament, along with other institutions, tasked with fighting corruption and holding the powerful accountable, are being purposefully broken down, but how many more hits can they take before the ANC’s programme of state capture succeeds?

The ANC is leading the country down a dark and dangerous path, but as the Opposition, we are working hard to ensure that Parliament does as intended and does not become a hollow shell that does the bidding of the Executive and the ANC.

We must jealously protect and strengthen Parliament by upholding the rules of the House and the Constitution, and ensuring that the actions of the Executive, led by President Zuma, are scrutinised.

We must be able to do this without the threat of armed and unidentified police and security personnel entering the House to silence our displeasure and frustration with the Executive and President Zuma becoming a law unto themselves.

In the fight for South Africa’s constitutional democracy, too much was lost, and it would have been lost in vain, if the ANC continues to act in the same anti-democratic manner that resulted in the events of 12 February 2015.

If we do not learn from the events of Thursday, and the truth is not told about the various incursions of the Constitution aren’t revealed, then our constitutional democracy will continue to regress.

This week, we will respond to the President’s SONA, which showed how out of touch and unfit he is to occupy the Office of the President.

These are trying times, and we must work hard to put South Africa on the right path. DM