The Western Cape High Court suspended six members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) from attending this year’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), and the EFF has announced that it will appeal the ruling.
EFF leader Julius Malema and five other members were banned from Parliament for a month, from the beginning of February.
They don’t want us in Parliament today because they’re a group of cowards, there’s no leader who is a cowards like President Ramaphosa who is being protected by the judges.
The EFF claims that the court’s judgment is undemocratic and unconstitutional. Malema was speaking to Durban University of Technology students at the Ndumiso Campus in Pietermaritzburg. This was part of the party’s build-up before its manifesto launch.
We will appeal to the Constitutional Court because we must not allow that precedent where elected members of Parliament can be removed through undemocratic methods and supported by the captured judiciary. It started like that in Zimbabwe where members of Parliament are rough tackled. We saw it in Zimbabwe, it is coming to South Africa. It must be stopped with immediate effect. Judges are not the Constitution; judges are not God and therefore they must be criticized when they are wrong. How do you say you must not call point of order; you regulate speech in Parliament,
Malema
The national legislature said it has always been its belief that measures had to be taken to prevent disruptions.
