Chaos in Parliament during SONA as security enter chambers

Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema and deputy president Floyd Shivambu were removed from Parliament for disrupting President Jacob Zuma’s eighth state-of-the-nation address.

EFF members demanded to know when Zuma is going to pay back the money towards the costs of security upgrades deemed by the Public Protector to have unfairly benefited him and his family.

Shortly afterwards, members of the DA protested against the presence of what they claimed were armed police officers in the House.

According to Mmusi Maimane MP, Parliamentary Leader of the DA, by calling armed SAPS officers into the chamber to remove MP’s, the Speaker violated the constitutional principle of separation of powers.

“There is an important difference between the police and parliamentary security – one reports to the executive and the other to parliament,” said Maimane.

“To allow one arm of government to suppress the work of another is a very dangerous precedent for our constitutional democracy.

“This is not an academic issue.  It is essential for the oversight role Parliament must play that its work cannot be suppressed by the security forces, and that the police may not interfere with the function and work of political parties.

” The EFF was wrong not to abide by the Speaker’s ruling.  The Parliamentary security should have removed them.  But calling in armed police was a violation of the constitution that the DA cannot tolerate.

“The presiding officers acknowledged that the SAPS were working directly with the security services on the precinct of Parliament. Therefore the state-controlled SAPS had again infringed on the independence of Parliament, as it had done at the end of 2014 when the riot police stormed the Chamber.

“For that reason, the Democratic Alliance had no choice but to walk out of Parliament and take no further part in proceedings.

“This does not mean that we condone the EFF’s disruption of the State of the Nation sitting.

“At a time when South Africa is in crisis, the constitutional role of Parliament has been severely undermined today, and the real issues that matter to South Africans have been forgotten.

“While Parliament has been turned into a circus, tomorrow the nation’s electricity crisis remains, unemployment remains, and crime continues to plague our communities.

“The heavy-handed use of the police, and the EFF’s theatrics, does not advance the interests of South Africans, or accountability of those in power. Tonight’s sitting was nothing short of a disaster, and an insult to South Africans.

“It is important that Parliament’s business is urgently turned to the issues that matter to South Africans, and that immediate action is taken to return integrity to this important institution.”

Malema has vowed to continue asking questions, saying the forceful removal of the EFF  is a direct threat to democracy.

Watch the forceful removal:

https://www.citizen.co.za/boksburg-advertiser/222465/watch-eff-mps-forced-parliament/