Police presence in ahead of the Sona on 11 February 2021. Picture: Twitter
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has questioned the heavy police presence in Parliament ahead of the State of The Nation Address (Sona) on Thursday night.
The party has since called for the “immediate withdrawal of the mass deployment of police presence in an empty Parliament that will only be attended by a total of 50 people”.
“The ruling party, in a shallow obsession with colonial ceremony, has deployed the South African Police Service to Parliament to rubber stamp their wasteful expenditure in the Sona,” read the party’s statement.
It said that the deployment of police in Parliament was nothing short of the abuse of power and represented the highest “arrogance as it only serves to distract police resources from combating violent crime in the service of the small egos of President Cyril Ramaphosa and his cronies”.
National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise estimated that the event would cost in the region of R100,000, down from the R2.2 million that was initially budgeted.
A total of 30 MPs representing the two houses of Parliament from various political parties would be physically in the chamber.
ALSO READ: Sona 2021 guide: R100k budget, EFF attending virtually and all you need to know
Police said on Thursday that parliamentary precinct would be a no-fly zone.
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