Cape Town - The EFF’s threat to disrupt President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday night could have serious political implications for the country if it went ahead.
It could lead to frosty relations between the ANC and EFF inside and outside Parliament, forcing the ANC to completely isolate the EFF.
While Speaker Baleka Mbete has decided to adopt a wait-and-see attitude, the ruling party could take a tougher stance against the EFF if the annual event is disrupted.
The ANC could decide to “disengage” the EFF on any matter in and out of Parliament.
The EFF has taken a hard line in the past few weeks, saying it had a date with Zuma today to answer it about paying back the money spent on his private Nkandla residence.
This was despite Zuma’s review of his earlier tough stance not to return to Parliament until the political climate was conducive to do so.
He indicated that he would be available to answer oral questions about Nkandla in the National Assembly on March 11.
But EFF leader Julius Malema was having none of that, insisting the president answer on Thursday night. He repeated this in an interview with John Robbie on the 702 talk radio station on Thursday morning. Malema told Robbie that they would ask questions before the President started speaking and that any attempt to stop the questions would be "unconstitutional".
In a bid to accommodate whatever was left of last year’s collapse of the truce between Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and opposition parties, Mbete said last week that Zuma could make more appearances in Parliament annually. Under the law, the president must appear in Parliament at least four times a year, once in each quarter, to take oral questions from MPs.
And in what appeared to be a last-ditch effort by Zuma, the president replied to four outstanding questions on Tuesday from the August sitting that was disrupted by the EFF.
While the written replies to Parliament did not touch on when or whether he would pay back the money, it appeared Zuma was trying to soften the opposition.
The DA and other opposition parties have distanced themselves from the EFF’s plan to disrupt Thursday night’s event.
If Malema makes good on his promise to ask Zuma questions, the president will not answer, as he and the ANC have indicated.
This would be the trigger for the chaos that first visited Parliament late last year.
Zuma and the ANC cannot afford another embarrassment in front of international guests and a global audience.
The disruption could lead to the president staying away from Parliament for the foreseeable future and the ANC isolating the EFF politically in Parliament.
While the ruling party may engage other opposition parties in Parliament on pieces of legislation, it could take a tougher stance against the EFF and isolate it on these matters.
A piece of legislation that the EFF is interested in is the Expropriation Bill, which was tabled by Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi on Wednesday.
The EFF wants the expropriation of land without compensation, but the ANC says compensation must be paid. So engagement on this legislation is vital between the two parties because they can work towards reaching consensus.
It has taken seven months for Zuma to appear before Parliament after the EFF’s disruption in August. Its political isolation in the House would be the useful mechanism for the ANC because the disciplinary process of disruptive MPs would be a long-drawn-out affair.
Last year’s penalties imposed on 20 EFF MPs for August’s event cannot be implemented because of a court judgment in the Western Cape High Court.
Also, the tightening of the rules of Parliament, to rein in disruptive MPs, is still a long way away.