Parliament - Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema and his fellow MPs were booted from the National Assembly on Wednesday after refusing to withdraw remarks branding deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa “a thief”.
Malema, EFF chief whip Floyd Shivambu, and other MPs walked out of the chamber after a frustrated deputy speaker Lechesa Tsenoli ordered them out of the House.
“I request because you refuse to accept the authority of the chair, that you leave the house gently,” Tsenoli said after Malema, Shivambu and MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi spoke without being recognised, and refused to withdraw remarks deemed unparliamentary.
The furore erupted when EFF MP Marshall Dlamini made remarks about Ramaphosa’s past connection, through his former role as executive chairman of Shanduka Group, to companies that had made a profit from selling coal to Eskom during a debate on two money bills. The bills would see Eskom’s balance sheet improved by about R50 billion within the next year.
When Dlamini was asked to withdraw, Malema, Shivambu and Ndlozi jumped up to challenge Tsenoli’s ruling - without having been given permission to speak.
“You can’t ask someone to withdraw something that is true, that Cyril made money from the sale of coal…,” Malema said.
“He [Ramaphosa] is here to steal money. We’re not going to agree to withdraw that,” Malema declared.
A visibly irritated Tsenoli warned Malema and his colleagues several times that their behaviour was out of order, saying: “You are defying the chair and you’ve been doing it consistently…and it’s not acceptable. “
The EFF MPs eventually left the House, allowing the debate to continue.
Wednesday afternoon’s events followed a parliamentary rules committee meeting earlier in the day where the EFF MPs found themselves outnumbered as other opposition parties, along with the ruling African National Congress, agreed on a proposed rule change to deal with disorderly MPs.
The proposed rule amendment, brought on by the June 18 disruption of President Jacob Zuma’s question and answer session in the National Assembly by the EFF, clarifies that an MP who refuses to leave the House when ordered to do so by a presiding officer can be removed by the serjeant-at-arms, or a member of the parliamentary protection services.
It further proposes that that member would then automatically be suspended from Parliament for five working days if it is a first offence, 10 working days if it is the second infringement and 20 working days if it is a third offence.
A subcommittee was expected to look at technical issues around the implementation of the rule before it is sent back to the full rules committee for a final decision.
ANA