JOHANNESBURG, February 14 (ANA) – The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) would approach the Constitutional Court to compel Parliament to discipline President Jacob Zuma, party leader Julius Malema said on Tuesday.
He said National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete was “biased and partisan”, hence his party approaching the highest court in the land.
“South Africans will have to take a stand…so we are going to the Constitutional Court directly to have Baleka compelled by court to discipline Zuma. The Constitutional Court [on Nkandla ruling] was not gonna say to us discipline or remove Zuma…what happen next should have been Parliament instituting a disciplinary process or impeachment,” Malema told reporters in Johannesburg.
The EFF wanted Parliament to take further the Constitutional Court ruling on Nkandla and not just “leave it there on the shelf” as it would render the country’s highest court useless, said Malema.
“If we leave it at that, they will do the same with what has been done with Public Protector report which called for remedial actions and was ignored. The court said Parliament you failed as well when you failed to protect the office of the Public Protector and make sure the President complies with the remedial actions….we want Parliament to institute disciplinary action or impeachment against Zuma.”
He said his party would not allow Zuma and Parliament to “do as they please” and undermine the Constitution, adding that South Africans would eventually thank the EFF for fighting against Zuma’s presidency.
The red berets has boycotted Tuesday’s debate on the State of the Nation address (SONA) in Parliament. Zuma delivered the SONA last week after a chaotic Parliament sitting which saw EFF MPs violently ejected from the house. Other opposition parties such as the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Freedom Front Plus walked out.
Malema said Zuma was “an illegitimate president” and that the debate “was not worthwhile” for the EFF.
Turning to the chaos that accompanied the SONA, Malema said his party had identified at least two members of the SA Police Police Service (SAPS) in white shirts deployed as Parliament security.
“We have identified that woman who beat us up as we were pushed out, and Mr Maphumulo, also an SAPS member. Police are not allowed in the National Assembly, we have written to the IPID on that matter. We are also busy identifying the other 21 in white shirts.”
– African News Agency (image:ANA)
