Cape Town - Parliament will clarify later on Friday when the suspension of EFF MPs will take effect.
Deputy Speaker Lechesa Tsenoli said on Thursday night, after a rowdy debate in which the National Assembly adopted a recommendation to suspend the MPs for between 15 and 30 days, that they would receive letters notifying them of their suspension.
Parliament spokesman Luzuko Jacobs said on Friday morning that the legislature would issue a statement later setting out the conditions of the suspension, including the date from which it would be effective.
At this point it is unclear whether those slapped with a 30-day sanction will be allowed to return in time for the opening of Parliament and President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address, which they have vowed to disrupt.
EFF leader Julius Malema told supporters on Thursday night that they would be asking Zuma when he would pay back a share of the R216 million security upgrade at his Nkandla home, as instructed by the public protector.
“If Jacob Zuma does not come to answer questions between now and the State of the Nation, then he must know he is not going to give that State of the Nation,” Malema said.
He was referring to Zuma’s failure to return to Parliament to answer questions in person – as he is required to do once each quarter.
Zuma’s only appearance this year, on August 21, was disrupted by EFF MPs, who chanted “pay back the money” and refused to leave the chamber when ordered to do so by Speaker Baleka Mbete, earning them the sanctions imposed by a vote of 210 vs 111 on Thursday.
EFF spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said on Friday morning they had not yet received any notification of their suspension, but confirmed they would be fighting the matter in court.
They would lodge an application for an interdict against their suspension “some time next week”.
Political Bureau