The EFF is planning to table a motion of no confidence against Parliament Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Ngqakula after its MPs were forcibly removed from the house on Thursday.
A scuffle erupted at the National Assembly sitting at the City Hall in Cape Town after EFF leader Julius Malema rose on multiple points of orders to prevent President Cyril Ramaphosa from delivering his State of the Nation Address (Sona) until he accounted for his Phala Phala farm scandal.
After Malema sat down, other members raised their hands. However, not all of them were recognised.
During a media briefing on Friday, Malema said the Speaker did not apply the removal rule properly before they were forcefully removed from the chamber.
He said according to the rules, the EFF MPs had to be recognised first before they could be removed, and it was not the case. Furthermore, the speaker violently handled the situation when she involved the police and the SA Defence Force team.
“There is absolutely no permissibility in the rules of parliament or the Constitution to treat MPs as a group and evict them from the Assembly for exercising their democratic rights because a presiding officer has a preconceived decision and attitude about the members.
“The rules of the national assembly deliberately defined ‘member’ to mean a member of the assembly and not a group of members. Section 47 of the Constitution specifies the requirements for a person to qualify as a member of the national assembly rather than a group,” he said.
Added Malema: “The rules of the National Assembly and authoritative court judgments have affirmed the principle that members of Parliament must always be treated and engaged with as individuals and ordinary members of Parliament and not as a group.
“What the Speaker did on the 9th of February is totally unacceptable, unlawful, unconstitutional, and undermines the democratic culture, mandate, and architecture of a democratic Parliament.”
Malema said the manner in which they were removed from the chamber did not depict constitutionality and stands far from it. He argued that the party posed no threat to the president as they were “peacefully protesting” in a Parliament, where they all have a right to be heard.
“It is therefore unconstitutional, unlawful, and unacceptable that the SA Police Service’s Counter Assault team violently and physically invaded Parliament to remove peaceful members of parliament who were using their democratic right to protest.
“We as members of Parliament are constitutionally protected to raise points of order and to protest within the precincts of Parliament whenever there are legitimate issues that we deem necessary to bring to the public’s attention.
“The Constitution encourages a peaceful protest, which is what we did,” he said.
According to Malema, Mapisa-Nqakula is an “insensitive and irresponsible speaker”, he said the EFF will report her conduct.
“We will therefore be reporting the Speaker to the Rules Committee of Parliament and will as a matter of urgency table a motion of no confidence against the Speaker for referring to members of Parliament as animals,” said Malema.
Vuyo Zungula, African Transformation Movement (ATM) leader, is another member of the house who was removed after attempting to prevent the president from delivering the state of the nation address.
Zungula has promised not to let this matter rest. He said his party would make sure to hold the speaker accountable.
“Parliament belongs to the people. The Speaker is biased.
“The ATM is not in Parliament to appease a status quo but to rather be a voice of the voiceless and disposed, and shall not be bullied into submission by the powers that be,” said Zungula.
Reacting to the EFF and ATM, ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said: “We will therefore not be distracted by little side shows by a few opposition parties which are mainly driven by political intolerance, undemocratic behaviour, dictatorial tendencies, delusions of grandeur, [and] an attempt to bully the democratically elected public representatives.”
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