The Speaker of the National Assembly v De Lille MP and Another

Patricia de Lille MP made allegations during a National Assembly debate that certain members were apartheid-era spies. The Speaker ruled the remarks unparliamentary and De Lille unconditionally withdrew them. Despite the withdrawal, the National Assembly appointed an ad hoc committee which recommended that De Lille apologise and be suspended from the Assembly for 15 parliamentary working days. The Assembly adopted the recommendation. De Lille challenged the resolutions in the Cape High Court, which set them aside. The Speaker appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

The appeal was dismissed and the order of the Cape High Court declaring the suspension resolutions invalid was upheld.

The case affirms the supremacy of the Constitution over Parliament and strongly protects freedom of speech in legislative bodies. It clarifies the limits of parliamentary discipline under the 1996 Constitution and rejects reliance on inherited English parliamentary custom to curtail constitutional rights without clear legislation.