Johannesburg - A defiant Julius Malema says he and his fellow EFF MPs will take off their red overalls and walk naked in the National Assembly if Parliament tries to stop them from wearing them.
“We are going to wear them (overalls). No one will tell us what to wear or else we are going to walk naked in that Parliament,” Malema said.
The EFF leader’s threats came amid concerted efforts by Parliament to introduce changes to its rules aimed at tightening regulations, including the dress code for MPs.
The mooted changes will result in EFF MPs being banned from wearing overalls and gumboots in Parliament.
Rules subcommittee chairman Richard Mdakane has said they hoped to finalise the regulations by the end of next month.
Malema said the proposed tightening of rules was a recipe for conflict.
“If they don’t want them (overalls), we will take off those overalls and walk naked. If that’s what they want to see, they will see it. We are not going to dress like colonial masters… I am wearing an overall, it’s clean and I am not smelly. I’m actually smelling better than many other people who are wearing suits there.”
Mdakane had said the parliamentary dress code had been in the pipeline since 2013 and that he hoped all parties would comply once the rules were promulgated.
“This is not about targeting the EFF in any way, but hopefully if there is consensus, the EFF will respect it,” Mdakane said. “We feel that those who are democrats, if a decision is against them, they will accept that.”
Malema was quick to shoot down the request.
“The ideas do not come from the ties, ideas come from the brain… Never mind what I am wearing. Yes, we agree you can’t wear jeans, you can’t wear takkies, the overalls are actually meant for work. So we are going to work there.”
City Press reported on Sunday that the mooted changes to the rules would include proposals ranging from banning rude gestures to employing parliamentary guards who could remove MPs causing trouble from the House.
In November last year, riot police had to be called into the National Assembly after EFF MP Ngwanamakwetle Mashabela called President Jacob Zuma a “thief” and refused to leave the House when ordered to.
Also in November, EFF chief whip Floyd Shivambu apologised “unconditionally” for showing Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa the middle finger in Parliament.
Other proposals by the parliamentary rules committee include reducing the time for tabling motions to 20 minutes, allowing only party whips to raise points of order, and giving the Speaker the right to switch off an MP’s microphone if the latter was not recognised.
Meanwhile, Malema also reiterated his threats that the EFF would quiz Zuma on the Nkandla report during his State of the Nation Address on February 12.
This is despite Zuma’s office saying the president would make himself available in Parliament on March 11 to answer questions.
The Star