Malema challenges his ‘unlawful ejection’
ECONOMIC Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema says his ejection from parliament last month was embarrassing for him and his party.
The firebrand has taken National Council of Provinces chairwoman Thandi Modise to the High Court in Cape Town in a bid to have his ejection from parliament declared unlawful. Malema was ordered to leave the house after he blamed the ANC government for the 2012 Marikana massacre.
In court papers filed last week, he claims that Modise’s ruling was unlawful because his statements fall under the protection of the constitution.
He pours out his emotions in a 10-page affidavit and details the humiliation he claims he and his party suffered.
“[Modise’s] rulings caused me and my party public embarrassment and political harm in that they created the impression that my criticism of the ANC had been unlawful,” he writes.
He said that by ordering him to withdraw the remarks and kicking him out of the house, Modise acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” to shield the ANC from legitimate criticism.
He wants an apology from her and for the court to rule that the ejection was unlawful so that parliamentary presiding officers may not “use their powers to protect the governing party from legitimate criticism” again.
Ironically, Malema was disciplined by the ANC when, as the party’s youth league president, he kicked a BBC journalist out of his press conference, calling him a “bloody agent”.
EFF spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said his party was considering taking the Eastern Cape and Gauteng legislatures to court for expelling their members.
ANC parliamentary caucus spokesman Moloto Mothapo confirmed receiving the court papers, but did not comment further, saying the party was busy with “more important matters of parliament, such as budget votes”.