PIETERMARITZBURG, the province’s capital and home to the provincial legislature has long been known as the sleepy hollow, and now we know why.
This week political opponents, the African National Congress (ANC) and uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), took their rivalry to another level by outsleeping each other while on the job.
While Finance MEC Francois Rodgers delved into the intricacies of KZN’s money matters some of his colleagues thought it was a bit of a yawn.
As he was busy telling MPLs and the general public how the Provincial Treasury was attempting to remain calm under tough economic pressures and finding creative ways to navigate treacherous terrain, certain MPLs took the message of remaining calm rather literally.
In fact ANC MPL Mafika Mndebele who is also the chairperson of the Economic Development and Tourism portfolio committee, wasn't going to lose sleep over this serious matter, and instead decided to catch forty winks while Rodgers droned on.
His nap was snapped and the picture was clearly taken from the opposition benches where MPLs from the MKP and Economic Freedom fighters (EFF) usually sit.
The incident happened after Mndebele, who is also the ANC spokesperson, last week launched a scathing attack on the MK Party’s leader, Jacob Zuma, during a debate in the legislature.
He accused him of leaving a legacy of treachery and deceit during his term of office as both ANC and state president.
Refusing to let the matter rest, Mndebele likened Zuma to the biblical Judas as well as Brutus, one of the conspirators in Wiliam Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
In an apparent fightback and a bid to ‘save’ her comrade, ANC MPL Sizophila Mkhize then posted a picture on her social media account, of an MKP member who was evidently fast asleep.
In the message Mkhize insisted that the MPL had been asleep throughout the legislature’s proceedings, and bizarrely the competition between the parties then turned to which MPL had overslept the other.
It’s not known if the legislature will impose a blanket ban on sleeping on its benches. But at the time of going to press the Independent on Saturday was still trying to find the picture and the name of the MKP politician who was apparently out like a light.