The National Assembly descended into chaos halfway through Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota’s speech, leading to DA Chief Whip John Steenhuisen being asked to leave the house.<\/p>\n
Steenhuisen was asked to leave after he said deputy chairperson Raseriti Tau was speaking rubbish in Parliament.<\/p>\n
Tau had told Lekota that he could not call MPs factions.<\/p>\n
Steenhuisen challenged the ruling, going as far as to say “you are talking rubbish”.<\/p>\n
Tau asked him to withdraw, saying\u00a0“I find it quite insulting.”<\/p>\n
Steenhuisen insisted that he would not withdraw, “because you are talking rubbish”.<\/p>\n
He was then asked to leave the House, and when he did, he was given a standing ovation from his party.<\/p>\n
When DA leader Mmusi Maimane tried to intervene, asking for an explanation, Tau then asked the whole DA caucus to leave.<\/p>\n
This was questioned by party leaders, including the UDM\u2019s Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, who wanted to know why the whole party had to leave.<\/p>\n
The opposition parties accused the presiding officer of losing control of the House, by ruling what was merely a political statement from Lekota as “unparliamentary”.<\/p>\n
Tau later said he had been offended at being told he was speaking rubbish.<\/p>\n
The DA caucus collectively said “but you were”.<\/p>\n