Since winning seats in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures, Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have shown themselves to be opportunists who will go to any lengths to disrupt proceedings.
Far from contributing to the shaping of legislation, or furthering debate, the EFF “commander-in-chief” and his comrades have been a stumbling block whose sole aim it appears is to garner publicity and stop law makers from doing their work. Being populist is one thing, bringing anarchy to the workings of legislatures is another.
From their disruptions of the Gauteng legislature, to their boorish behaviour which has twice brought Parliament to a halt, the beret brigade have shown themselves to be a blight on our democratic structures.
Their chants of “pay back the money” regarding President Jacob Zuma and Nkandla may have struck a chord with those who like to see Parliament being reduced to a circus, but the clowns reside firmly within the EFF.
While much has been written and remains to be written about Nkandla, the hypocrisy of the EFF is astounding.
At the same time as questions are being raised about how the EFF leader is making payments on his R16m tax bill, Malema and co grab the headlines with their “pay back” chant. He also still faces criminal charges of fraud, corruption, money-laundering, and racketeering. Malema says he is confident of beating these charges as he is innocent. If not, may we expect him to pay back the money as he is doing with the taxman?
Since bringing Parliament to a halt last week, EFF members face possible suspension and tougher security measures are to be put in place to ensure order. This is what the EFF has brought to the democratic process – police being put on standby to ensure that hooligans cannot continue to disrupt the business of Parliament.
It may make good theatre, big headlines, Twitter mania and YouTube jollies, but turning the real business of the legislature into a sideshow dogged by disruptions is not why South Africans fought so hard for their freedom.