Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema slammed Police Minister Bheki Cele for strongly defending the removal of EFF MPs from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Union Address (Sona) on Thursday evening.
EFF MPs were removed on the instructions of the speaker of the National Assembly Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and after running to the stage, where Ramaphosa was sitting.
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Malema insisted what happened on Thursday was unconstitutional and the party has written to Mapisa-Nqakula asking for an apology. The EFF has been given 48 hours to apologize or face legal action.
‘We must act’
Speaking to News24, Cele said the police should act quickly against the EFF.
“We have to act, and [I] Very proud of the officers…and again, of us [will] do the same if the same thing happens again. We are doing our job, and we will do it again to make sure people are protected, especially when people attack heads of state and presiding officers,” he said in a publication on Friday.
Ramaphosa needs no protection
During an EFF media briefing on Friday, Malema said Ramaphosa did not need protection from MPs in parliament. He said the EFF MPs only wanted to hold a silent protest on stage, not undermine the president.
“The only time the president is not and does not have protection is in parliament. He enters and sits among members of parliament. Why is there no threat when he is sitting with him and then he becomes a threat when he goes to the stage? What is the difference? It is the same member. When we sitting with him on the floor of the room, he couldn’t see our hands, no one could see our hands. But when I was on stage, my hands were seen holding a plaque,” he said.
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“Since when does holding placards in a peaceful way become a threat? Where you are suspected of being a threat, you are asked to raise your hands where you can see them. Just stand peacefully on stage with placards. The president will continue to speak while we hold placards.
Beki Cele is a ‘certified idiot’
Malema further slammed Cele, who he called a “certified idiot”, for celebrating how the police handled the situation on Thursday.
“No self-respecting MP or minister should celebrate what these members of the police are doing inside,” Malema said.
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“Bheki is singing for dinner. A cabinet reshuffle was imminent and so he did the stupidest thing. A semi-illiterate police minister who knows nothing but goes around talking a lot to no avail. GBV is high, crime rate is very high. The only thing that can be commended is the harassment of his colleagues in parliament. Certified fool, stupid.”