The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has condemned the alleged unlawful eviction of two of their MPs, Carl Niehaus and Virgil Gericke, from a parliamentary defence committee meeting.
The two were forced out of a Joint Standing Committee on Defence session by ANC co-chairperson Phiroene Phala.
‘In violation of parliament rules’
Sinawo Thambo, EFF spokesperson, said the manner in which their members were “evicted” violates parliamentary rules and silences dissenting voices.
“The incident arose when honourable Niehaus and honourable Gericke raised legitimate concerns about a presentation by Armscor, the procurement arm of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
“They questioned whether any slides were restricted or confidential. And how such content would be handled in a public meeting broadcast on media anpd Parliament’s social media platforms,” said Thambo.
He claimed that these were fair concerns about transparency. This given that past instances where presentations were allegedly changed during delivery.
Thambo said Phala ignored the concerns instead of addressing them. He also noted that parliamentary rules require Phala to allow their points of order and rule on them.
Attempt at hiding truths
He said this is part of an attempt to shield Armscor and the SANDF from scrutiny, both of which have been linked to corruption allegations in the past.
“The meeting descended into further chaos due to honourable Phala’s mismanagement. Honourable Chris Hattingh (DA) improperly attempted to rule on honourable Niehaus’s point of order. An action that is impermissible under parliamentary protocol.
“Similarly, the Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Honourable Richard Mkhungo, overstepped his executive role by attempting to preside over the meeting and insulting our members, breaching the separation of powers and parliamentary decorum,” said Thambo.
Exposing corruption
He said the EFF will file a complaint with the Parliamentary Ethics Committee. It will also write to the speaker of parliament and the chairperson of chairpersons demanding action.
He said the red berets will not tolerate what he referred to as an assault on its members. And he claimed that they are committed to exposing corruption and ensuring accountability for a transparent and corruption-free SANDF.
