By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@EFFSA.
Parliament has welcomed the Western Cape High Court’s decision to strike off the roll Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Deputy President Floyd Shivambu’s urgent application to set aside the decision to deduct nine days’ salary from him.
Shivambu approached the court after the Parliament’s Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests decided to dock his pay after finding he failed to disclose the R180,000 he received from Sgameka Projects in 2017.
Sgameka Projects was implicated in the looting of VBS Mutual Bank. The company is owned by Shivambu’s brother, Brian.
Shivambu received the amount in three payments – R100 000 on 18 August 2017, R30 000 on 24 August 2017, and R50 000 on 26 August 2017.
He argued that the investigation against him was unfair as he did not know what allegations he was facing before Parliament’s decision was made.
“He stated that the payments made to him were not gifts but were from his brother and the Ethics Code excludes gifts from family members from the categories of gifts that should be disclosed,” Parliament said on Friday.
Shivambu also argued that the matter was urgent because parliament’s report could count against the EFF in the elections later this year.
Parliament said the court found Shivambu’s submission that his political party will be disadvantaged to be “unsustainable and lacking validity” as the EFF is not involved in the case.
The court dismissed Shivambu’s claim of urgency because he only filed his application in December, despite the Ethics Committee’s decision being made in June.
He was also ordered to pay the costs of the application.
Meanwhile EFF approached the Western Cape High Court to have their suspension overturned. This after the court struck the matter off the roll with costs on Tuesday. Party spokesperson Sinawo Tambo, who is one of the six suspended MPs, said the ruling was politically motivated.
“The partisan and draconian decision to suspend the president of the EFF, Julius Malema, the deputy president Floyd Shivambu, secretary-general Marshall Dlamini and commissars Sinawo Tambo, Vuyani Pambo and Mbuyiseni Ndlozi for contempt of parliament is clearly politically motivated and aims to intimidate those who seek to hold the government accountable,” said Tambo.