The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) dismissed the appeal by the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces against a decision of the Western Cape Division of the High Court, Cape Town, and accordingly upheld an order reviewing and setting aside certain rulings that she had made against Mr Julius Malema (the first respondent) while chairing a joint sitting of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.

The issue before the SCA was whether the court a quo was correct in reviewing and setting aside as unlawful the Chairperson’s rulings during a parliamentary debate following the 2014 State of the Nation Address that: (i) Mr Malema’s statement that the African National Congress (ANC) government had ‘massacred the people in Marikana’ was unparliamentary; (ii) Mr Malema must withdraw that statement; and (iii) Mr Malema’s refusal to comply with her order to withdraw the statement amounted to contempt of her authority, justifying an order that he must leave the House.