EFF’s application to suspend disciplinary actions against members who disrupted Sona fails

The Western Cape High Court on Tuesday struck off the roll with costs the Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) application to suspend disciplinary sanctions against six members who disrupted the State of the Nation Address last year.

The EFF had requested the court’s leniency in accepting the late filing of their replies to the affidavit for the National Assembly and their heads of arguments in the matter.

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Last year, Parliament endorsed the recommendation from the Powers and Privileges Committee to suspend six EFF members, party leader Julius Malema, Floyd Shivambu, Marshall Dlamini, Sinawo Tambo, Vuyani Pambo, and Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, for contempt of Parliament.

They had defied the Speaker’s order to leave the Chamber during the disruption and had to be forcibly removed by the Parliament Security Services.

“We concur with the majority judgement that the responsibility lies with the applicant, in this case, the EFF, to ensure that they adhere to court rules and have a well-prepared case that is ripe for hearing,” Parliament’s spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, said.

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“The EFF’s imposed unreasonable timeframes and their filing at midnight before the next court day not only inconvenienced Parliament and the court but also indicated their lack of readiness for their application to be heard.”

The suspension of the six EFF members is effective from Thursday, 1 February to 29 February.

Not the only instance

This comes after two Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MPs were suspended from Parliament for a month as a result of their disruptive behaviour during a National Assembly sitting.

The Powers and Privileges Committee concluded the hearings into EFF MPs Veronica Mente, Khanya Ceza, and Nazier Paulsen in December last year, with the three MPs being charged with disrupting President Cyril Ramaphosa’s question and answer (Q&A) session in the National Assembly on 30 August 2022.

The sitting was marred by points of order about Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm scandal and was delayed by nearly an hour.

ALSO READ: ‘Where are those remarks’ – EFF MP off the hook as two others suspended without pay

Furthermore, disciplinary hearings into the conduct of the 10 EFF MPs accused of disrupting President Cyril Ramaphosa’s budget vote on 9 and 10 June 2022, are still ongoing.

The parliamentary sittings were also marred by points of order about Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm scandal.

ALSO READ: ‘Speaker dealt with EFF disruptions to the best of her ability’, Parliament told

Additional reporting by Molefe Seeletsa