Minority parties could lose some of the perks bestowed on them by the ANC in Parliament if the attacks on the Speaker, Frene Ginwala, continued, ANC Deputy Chief Whip Geoff Doidge said on Friday.

Doidge said the ANC had been encouraged by Ginwala to frequently donate their own speaking time to minority parties. Thanks to Ginwala, leaders of most small minority parties had been granted privileges such as front benches in the National Assembly chamber. Their leaders and members also spoke far more frequently in debates than members of the ANC.

"I don't think we want to lose the things we have done for smaller parties. But, clearly, if this continues, there will be some hardening of attitudes . . . One wants a very vibrant Parliament but it is getting abused . . . This is a democracy and the majority must rule," he said.

Parties will also have to watch their step in this week's debate and vote on the future of the Speaker and be sure their claims are substantiated by fact or run the risk of contravening the Constitution, Doidge added.

His warnings come as the threat of litigation hangs over UDM president Bantu Holomisa for his letter to Ginwala last week, in which he accused her of a range of improprieties.

Ginwala said yesterday she believed that Holomisa and the UDM "were wide open for legal action".

Holomisa's letter sparked an avalanche of attacks on Ginwala by minority parties. The matter will be debated this week.

The ANC is angling to have the focus of the debate turned on Holomisa who it says must be forced to substantiate his allegations. Doidge said: "It's not the Speaker who is in the dock but the person who made the allegations."

Holomisa said he had not yet decided whether to take part in the debate. He said the threat of legal action and the short time - about three minutes - allocated to the UDM were factors weighing against his participation.

Chief among the allegations by minority parties is that Ginwala acted in a partisan manner when she intervened to interpret a report from the standing committee on public accounts, which recommended the probe into the R43-billion arms deal.

Ginwala said, of her own accord, that the report did not insist on the inclusion of Judge Willem Heath in the arms inquiry - a view also held by members of the executive.

She could, however, also face new claims.

There is talk in parliamentary circles that Ginwala overstepped the mark by attending a crucial ANC study group meeting in January, where the party's strategy to deal with the standing committee on public accounts was discussed.

Ginwala is said to have mapped out what the ANC should do about the unfolding crisis in the committee.

One of the measures was to release a press statement which stated that it had not been the intention to include Judge Heath in the inquiry.

Ginwala said yesterday that she had attended "part of a meeting" with some members of the ANC study group when she was asked to clarify certain matters. The strategy of the ANC regarding the committee was not discussed, she said.

"If I can recall, I did go to part of the meeting where I was asked to explain the procedures around workshops . . . The ANC came to see me to clarify that. A lot of parties and members came to see me," she said.  

With acknowledgment to Carol Paton and the Sunday Times.