By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) threatened legal action against National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula for booting them out from the Cape Town City Hall chambers during the State of the Nation Address.
EFF members were forcefully removed after charging onto the stage and disrupting President’ Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address.
Party leader Julius Malema has labelled the presence of the SAPS as an invasion of Parliament and a violation of members’ constitutional right to freedom of speech.
On Friday the red beret’s leader held a press conference at the Marks Building in Cape Town, where accused the speaker of calling EFF MPs animals when ordering their removal.
He said they’ll be tabling a motion of no confidence against the speaker.
“We also take note that in the process of the police evicting members of Parliament, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said ‘animals out’ which was in reference to EFF MPs. Referring to MPs as animals is against the rules of National Assembly and is altogether unacceptable. We will therefore be reporting the speaker to the rules committee of Parliament and will, as a matter of urgency, be tabling a motion of no confidence against the speaker for referring to MPs as animals,” says Malema.
He also says they’ve sought legal advice and will take the matter to the highest court in the land, should Mapisa-Nqakula fail to accede to the demands that they’ve outlined in the letter addressed to her.
“The speaker will get 48 hours upon receiving our letter to publicly withdraw and apologise, and she should do so with the protection services by distancing themselves from the act of the security services and they should do so in a form of a press conference. If the speaker fails to do so in 48 hours, we will approach the Constitutional Court because, at the level where we are, we think that this matter deals directly with the Constitution and do not need other lower courts to deal with these matters.”
Malema denied claims that he and his colleagues posed a physical threat to the president or any other members of Parliament, adding that as members of Parliament, they have the right to express their opinion in any form.
The party maintains they simply went on stage to hold up placards in protest against the president addressing the nation while the Phala Phala scandal remains unresolved.
Cele defends police action against EFF
Police Minister Bheki Cele has likened the disruption of the State of the Nation Address (SONA) by EFF members of Parliament on Thursday, to the 1966 assassination of former prime minister Hendrik Verwoerd.
Cele said: “Remember, we have a history in this country where the prime minister was killed in the chamber, so we’re not going to take chances. The police got a constitutional mandate to prevent, to protect, to combat any form of illegality, to investigate, to enforce the law, and make sure that the inhabitants are safe. That’s what the Constitution says.”
Cele expressed pride at the police’s response, saying they had to “do something that has never happened before”.
“We had to act, and [I] am very proud of the officers… and again and again, we [will] act the same if the same thing happens again.”
Lamola slams SONA chaos
Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola believes the EFF’s disruption of Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday was undemocratic.
Lamola described the incident as unfortunate because he believes the EFF could have waited for the political response session, scheduled for next week, if it found issues with Ramaphosa’s speech.
“I think it’s unfortunate. South Africa is a constitutional democracy. What should prevail is superior logic. What should prevail is what the speaker was saying. All political parties will have an opportunity to engage robustly with the speech next week, which is one of the features of our parliamentary system and constitutional democracy,” Lamola said.
He added that the shouting and heckling did not belong in a constitutional democracy.
“There was no need to disrupt, stop the president or anyone from making a point. You can engage with a point and deal with it robustly. I don’t think such behaviour belongs in a constitutional democracy where superior logical must prevail,” the minister told News24 on Thursday night, following Ramaphosa’s speech.