ECONOMIC Freedom Fighter (EFF) leader Julius Malema and his five counterparts have been slapped with heavy sanctions by the National Assembly after they disrupted the State of the Nation Address (Sona) nine months ago.
The sanctions included a docking of a month’s salary and a month's suspension from 1 February to 29 February 2024, which will result in them missing out on 2024 SONA.
Malema, his deputy Floyd Shivambu, Marshall Dlamini, party spokesman Sinawo Thambo, Vuyani Pambo and Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi have also been instructed to apologise in person to President Cyril Ramaphosa and the National Assembly members in Parliament and the public at large.
The judgment against the group was announced on Wednesday, 22 November, after a two-day hearing by the Parliament’s Power and Privileges Committee.
The committee found the six members guilty of contravening the Powers, Privileges, and Immunities Act.
Meanwhile, according to News24, the members have approached the Western Cape High Court on an urgent basis to try to interdict their punishment.
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News24 reported that they filed the document last Friday, days before the start of the hearing.
“The EFF wants the high court to order that the National Assembly rules and Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act 4 of 2004 are unconstitutional, to the extent that they fail to provide sufficient guidelines and safeguards necessary to protect Parliament's process for disciplining Members of Parliament," News24 reported.
The hearing comes after the EFF members, on 9 February 2023, rushed to the podium where Ramaphosa was due to deliver his State of the Nation Address.
They went into the stage with the president already on the podium but were subsequently removed by security services.
The MPs had accused Ramaphosa of corruption about the Phala Phala farm gate saga and also demanded that he resign.
