Parliament – The African National Congress caucus in Parliament has demanded the legislature immediately investigate allegations that a bodyguard of Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema entered the National Assembly chamber during Tuesday’s clashes between the opposition party’s MPs and parliamentary security guards.
Addressing journalists during a media briefing on Thursday, ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu described Tuesday’s chaos which ensued after the EFF insisted it would not allow President Jacob Zuma to speak in the National Assembly, as “thuggery”.
“More worrying to us is how people who are alleged to be security guards or bodyguards of honourable Malema got into Parliament, into the chamber of Parliament, and breached in a serious way the security of our Parliament,” said Mthembu.
“We have since requested Parliament to do a thorough investigation into this security breach of Parliament. In our view it should not be allowed.”
Mthembu said if the allegations are true, MPs’ lives were at risk.
“We can’t afford to risk the lives of our President and deputy president, our executive, and all members of Parliament, immaterial which parties they come from, by allowing people who are not supposed to be in Parliament…to get into the chambers of Parliament and therefore put all lives of MPs at risk.”
“It should not be allowed. It must therefore be investigated and we hope Parliament will come out with a report on this breach of parliamentary security.”
Since the removal of MPs on Tuesday, which saw blows exchanged between EFF MPs and members of the parliamentary protection guard, Parliament has laid criminal charges with police.
The EFF has insisted that it would continue with its campaign to prevent Zuma from speaking in Parliament as the party did not recognise him as the legitimate president due the Constitutional Court judgement which found he had violated the Constitution by not following the directives of the public protector to pay back a portion of taxpayers’ money used to effect non-security upgrades to his Nkandla residence.
African News Agency