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WATCH | ‘This is a dictatorship,’ says Malema after EFF kicked out of SONA
- EFF leader Julius Malema says the state is becoming a dictatorship in the protection of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
- The EFF was kicked out of the Cape Town City Hall after they stormed the stage where Ramaphosa was standing.
- The ANC said the EFF’s behaviour was “silly antics”.
EFF leader Julius Malema says the state has become a dictatorship to protect President Cyril Ramaphosa from accountability.
EFF Members of Parliament were violently kicked out of the City Hall on Thursday evening after they charged onto the stage where President Cyril Ramaphosa was delivering his State of the Nation Address.
The EFF prevented Ramaphosa from delivering his address for more than 30 minutes.
Eventually, when they charged the stage holding placards, police units were called in to surround the president. EFF MPs were then forcibly removed from the House.
Speaking to the media afterwards, Malema said the whole state had collapsed in the protection of “one man”.
“Parliament has degenerated, the executive has degenerated, the judiciary has degenerated, in the protection of one man.”
READ | SONA 2023: Ramaphosa’s bodyguards called into action after EFF MPs storm stage
Malema condemned Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s decision to stop the EFF from speaking.
She had said that the EFF would have an opportunity to debate matters next week when Parliament debates the SONA.
Malema insisted that the EFF had the right to protest inside Parliament, saying the speaker had no right to stop points of order.
“We cannot be evicted as a group,” he said.
Malema added: “I was attacked by police for peacefully protesting in Parliament. This only happens in a dictatorship.”
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu dubbed the EFF’s action as “silly antics”.
EFF members disrupted President Cyril Ramaphosa from speaking.
“We are not here because we imposed ourselves. We cannot have a minority party disrupting democratic processes,” she said.
ANC MP Hope Papo said the party condemned the EFF’s actions and supported the speaker’s decision to eject MPs.
Ramaphosa eventually began his address after multiple disruptions, and chaos.