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The Democratic Alliance accused Deputy President David Mabuza of lying to the National Assembly when he answered questions on Wednesday afternoon.
In a follow-up question, DA MP David Maynier asked about his opinion on the independence of the Reserve Bank, given that ratings agency Moody's cited it as one of the reasons for its improved rating of South Africa.
Mabuza said it was a new question and that they were looking at the inputs from the ratings agencies.
"At no stage did Moody's reflect on the Reserve Bank," Mabuza said. "I'm not going to comment on the Reserve Bank, unfortunately."
"The honourable deputy president is misleading the house," said Maynier, who then read from the Moody's report, where it specifically listed the Reserve Bank's independence as a positive aspect.
'An outright lie!'
Speaker Baleka Mbete dismissed Maynier's point of order.
"The whole point of this exercise is to hold the executive accountable," DA chief whip John Steenhuisen complained, also to no avail.
DA MP Ian Ollis also rose for a point of order and said: "The deputy president doesn't get to choose which questions he wants to answer."
But ANC deputy chief whip Doris Dlakude said Mabuza shouldn't be told by the DA how to respond.
Mbete said she wanted to move on from the matter and that it could be dealt with at another forum, but Maynier wasn't ready to move on.
"The deputy president told an outright lie!" he charged.
Mbete asked him to desist from pursuing the matter in the House.
"The deputy president told an outright lie to this House!"
But an ANC whip said the DA had to withdraw the accusation that Mabuza lied.
"You don't have a clue what you're doing, mate," Steenhuisen sneered at Mabuza, who remained serene behind the podium.
The Guptas
ANC MP Patrick Chauke asked Mbete to address the "shouting and lies" of DA MPs.
"This only happens when the bar opens early," he added.
"I would like to refer the issue of the bar to the whips," Mbete said matter-of-factly.
Steenhuisen asked how Chauke knew who was in the bar if he wasn't there himself.
"Leave the bar out of the House," Mbete ordered.
During a follow-up question to another question, EFF MP Hlengiwe Mkhalaphi said the "Guptas looted Mpumalanga under your watch" and arranged a flight for him to Russia. She asked how he would take the Guptas to task.
"It's not the deputy president who must go after people and arrest them," Mabuza responded to applause from the ANC benches.
He said there were other institutions to do that and that he was confident that they would.
"Whether I've been given a lift to hospital does not mean, if they've done something wrong, the Guptas will not be brought to justice," Mabuza said.
