The past few weeks have been difficult ones in the life of South Africa's Parliament. Once touted as a model legislature in the democratic world, it has become the playground of bullying party bosses.

In the early days of South Africa's democracy, Parliament was already home to robust and often acrimonious engagement between various parties. But, although the ANC had a comfortable majority, it behaved maturely when it came to seeking consensus among all parties. When it used its majority to push through legislation, it did so after exhaustive consensus-seeking exercises.

This spirit has dissipated in the recent past, with the ANC not only using its majority aggressively but often abusing it in the face of opposition to its actions.

There are those who would go so far as to say that the events of the past few weeks pose a threat to our democracy, but that would be an exaggeration. However, there is a worrying trend of party bosses seeking to compromise the integrity and effectiveness of Parliament and its organs.

The furore around the arms deal has exposed the underbelly of South Africa's democracy - the temptation by dominant parties to abuse their majorities.

A simple resolution by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts requesting various agencies to investigate the R43-billion arms deal has been seen as an affront by the government.

Arguing on technicalities, various members of the Cabinet have stated that the committee had no right to give instructions to structures that report directly to the executive.

Deputy President Jacob Zuma led the attack, writing a stinging letter to the chairman of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Gavin Woods. In the letter, Zuma chastised Woods for exceeding his mandate. He accused the committee of being driven by "a determination to find the executive guilty at all costs, based on the assumption . . . that the executive is prone to corruption and dishonesty".

It was clearly a letter penned to achieve the effect of intimidating the committee.

Zuma's angry attack was echoed by President Thabo Mbeki in his televised address to the nation a few weeks ago. Several ministers have also joined in the attack on the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, questioning its motives for insisting on the involvement of the Heath Special Investigating Unit in the arms probe.

The most worrying assault on the integrity and work of this parliamentary committee came in the form of strong-arm tactics by the ANC hierarchy this week.

The ANC demoted Andrew Feinstein, a firm advocate of a thorough arms investigation, from deputy chairman of the committee to an ordinary member of the body.

His replacement is a trusted party operative who will be assisted by new members who will answer to, and be closely watched by, the ANC top brass.

And even Speaker Frene Ginwala hasn't displayed the feistiness that earned her a reputation as a nonpartisan defender of Parliament's integrity and political space.

There are many in the ANC who are as concerned as those outside the party about this trend. They remember an ANC which, in 1994, set out to create a strong national legislature that would hold the executive to account on every score. Those party members, both inside and outside Parliament, would dearly like to fight this trend but are constrained by the party's strongly hierarchical character from speaking out of turn. So they suffer in silence.

It is these men and women who should be supported by civil society in their quest to ensure South Africa's strongest political force remains true to its mission.

Our democracy is still too young to be left to the whims of party strongmen who will act in defence of their own immediate interests. This should be the year in which South Africans recognise the centrality of Parliament and do their damnedest to defend its integrity. 

With acknowledgement to the Sunday Times.