No sex please, we're parliamentarians: S.Africa's ANC

Members of Parliament, ministers, and President Jacob Zuma pose for a group photo at the South African parliament in Cape Town, on May 21, 2014. By Sumaya Hisham (Pool/AFP/File)

Cape Town (AFP) - South Africa's ruling ANC on Wednesday protested the opening of a sex shop near parliament in Cape Town, saying it could undermine the "integrity and standing" of the legislature.

Adult World, a countrywide chain, has unveiled its red and yellow sign at a small shop squeezed between two cheap fast-food joints in Plein Street, a bustling but down-at-heel road opposite the parliament complex.

"The opening of such (a) store within the vicinity of the houses of parliament does not augur well for the integrity and standing of such a constitutional body," the African National Congress said in a statement issued by its chief whip.

The ANC said that since the end of the racial system of apartheid in 1994 parliament had been "transformed into an open and accessible institution", which daily welcomes scores of visitors including schoolchildren, religious groups and tourists.

"Having stores of this nature next to parliament may offend certain people's moral sensibilities or belief systems," the party said.

During the apartheid years, when South Africa was run by ultra-conservative white Afrikaners, sex shops were banned altogether.

The ANC demanded that the official opposition Democratic Alliance,which controls Cape Town, explain its decision to allow the shop to open.

Adult World CEO Francois Joubert said the company is "not willing to give any comments on this matter at this stage".