Parliament dismisses Citizen newspaper’s claims

In a statement on Thursday, Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said the report is replete with blatant falsehoods and fictitious references.

Parliament has dismissed the Citizen newspaper’s claims that it will fully open for physical meetings on 5 October 2020.

In a statement on Thursday, Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said the report is replete with blatant falsehoods and fictitious references.

“As if these fabrications were not bad enough, the story further claims that the 'regular Cabinet programme will resume on 6 October', cringeworthily attributing this to what it calls 'Parliament’s communications department'.

“Not only does the newspaper seem to be inventive with sources and attributions, but it also seems unable to distinguish between Parliament and Cabinet, as it uses the two interchangeably.

"It boggles the mind how such errors could make it through the newspaper's checks and balances into the public domain,” Mothapo said, noting that the paper did not contact Parliament for the story. 

He said Parliament will be writing to the Press Ombudsman to seek redress.

“For the record, Parliament has been open for business, even under the lockdown regulations, since April. MPs [Members of Parliament] have been working both from the precinct and remotely, through what is called the hybrid system, in order to conform to the current COVID-19 regulations, which prescribe the number of people that can gather in one place to perform various duties,” Mothapo said.

No decision has been taken regarding any change to this status quo, Mothapo said.

“Members of Parliament are currently on a constituency period following an intense third term programme, which also had to be extended several times in order to complete the urgent business of Parliament.”

(With Inputs from South African Government Press Release)