EFF forced out of Parliament at SONA 2017
True to its word, the EFF has shown no apprehension taking on president Jacob Zuma in Parliament as he attempted to deliver his State of the Nation Address for 2017.
After stalling the address with points of order that led nowhere, the EFF’s MPs resorted to shouting over the president as he attempted to open his speech.
The EFF and other opposition parties relied on old tried and true tactics, saying that president Zuma cannot address the National Assembly, as he had broken his oath of office through the Nkandla saga, in which the Constitutional Court ruled against him.
Party leader, Julius Malema called Zuma “an incorrigible man rotten to the core”, which was shot down as not being a point of order. Malema also claimed that 21 police officers were parading as Parliament securty, and had cable ties, threatening to arrest his party’s members.
However, the speaker of National Assembly Baleka Mbete would not have any of it. She told the EFF MPs that they were abusing the freedoms they held to raise points of order, and after much back and forth, ordered Malema to leave the house.
As with 2016’s SONA, the EFF leader refused, saying that it was Zuma who should leave. Parliamentary security – the so-called “white shirts” – were called in to remove him and the rest of the EFF MPs.
For the second year in a row, EFF members had to be forced out of Parliament as punches were thrown, and the party members used their hard hats to pelt security.
Before the SONA kicked off, EFF leaders took to social media to push the hashtag “#FearFokol”, as a declaration that the party would not be intimidated by the ANC or the SANDF soldiers which were deployed outside Parliament to assist the police in keeping the peace.
After news of the soldiers’ activity outside Parliament came streaming in during the two days leading up to the event, EFF national spokesperson, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, said “What will the army do when we hold a constitutional delinquent (president Zuma) accountable tonight? Nothing! So, fear fokol!”
The tag has also been pushed by the party in other confrontations with government, such as during the Fees Must Fall protests.
In the lead up to the SONA, the EFF maintained that it would not be intimidated by anyone to keep silent, promising to not let Zuma speak. The party said it would be better for the ANC to get someone else to read the address, as the EFF would not allow the president to be heard.
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