EFF statement on Parliament's continued failure to hold Mr Jacob Zuma accountable for violation of the Constitution
1 February 2017
The Economic Freedom Fighters has written a letter to the Speaker of the National Assembly to demand that instead of giving Mr Zuma an opportunity to address a Joint Sitting of Parliament on the 9th of February 2017, the date be set aside to debate:
[1] The failure by Parliament to hold Mr Zuma to account, despite a clear ruling by the Constitutional Court that he had failed to uphold his oath of office (Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker of the National Assembly and Others; Democratic Alliance v Speaker of the National Assembly and Others [2016] ZACC 11).
[2] The threat to our constitution and democracy of having Mr Zuma continue as President of the Republic of South Africa.
The background to this is that on the 6th of April 2016, following the Constitutional Court judgement on the Nkandla matter, we wrote a letter to the Speaker calling for a disciplinary inquiry into the conduct of Mr Jacob Zuma for breach of his oath of office as stated in s83(b) of the Constitution, read with s181(3) and s182(1)(c). The Speaker did not respond affirmatively to our demand and consequently, no action has been taken till today.
It is clear that the Speaker and the entire ANC Caucus are hell-bent on rendering our Constitution useless and ushering of lawlessness in our country, which is a serious threat to our democracy. South Africa must rest assured that we, as the protectors of the public, will fight with all we have to ensure that the rule of law reigns supreme.
We further reject Parliament’s decision to illegally assign the State Security Agency to do vetting of guests who are coming for the State of the Nation Address [2017]. There is no provision in law for such. This, again, is a demonstration of Parliament’s determination to render our country a lawless and mafia State. We want to state categorically that we are not going to comply with this illegal arrangement.
The EFF will not retreat in its courageous and consistent action of holding Mr. Zuma accountable and will never allow South Africa's constitution to be undermined.
Issued by Mbuyiseni Quintin Ndlozi, National Spokesperson, EFF, 1 February 2017
