EFF STATEMENT ON RECENT POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS

17 September 2015

The Economic Freedom Fighters has called on all members of the media to give an update on the recent political developments, which in our view should be publicly communicated. As part of the statement, we are primarily going to focus on the following key issues:

1) The Pay Back the Money Constitutional Court Case.

2) Parliamentary Rules that allow bouncers to evict members from Parliament.

3) Protest against the financial sector.

4) Local Government Elections Preparations.

5) Students Representatives Councils Elections.

6) Mr. Zuma’s statements on the killing of Colonel Gaddafi and devastation of Libya.

PAY BACK THE MONEY CONSTITUTIONAL COURT CASE:

The EFF welcomes the of the Constitutional Court to allow the EFF an opportunity to present its case before the court as it relates to the remedial actions of the Public Protector’s report on the illegal and irregular construction of Mr. Zuma’s house in Nkandla. We can confirm that the Constitutional Court has granted the 9th of February 2016.

The EFF chose to go to the Constitutional Court because we have exhausted all internal political and parliamentary processes aimed at ensuring that Mr. Zuma pays back the money as directed by the remedial action of the Public Protector.

We believe that Mr. Zuma has used his political influence to bulldoze all legal process and used the Police Minister and Parliament to exonerate him from the fact that he unduly benefitted on the construction of his private residence in Nkandla. Mr. Zuma will now be granted an opportunity to explain under oath the reasons why he allowed for the misuse of public money in his private residence and why he is refusing to pay back the money.

We have since briefed our Lawyers and they are hard at work to ensure that Mr. Zuma ultimately pays back the money. The EFF does not have a problem with political formations and interested parties that wish to join into our case, but condemn opportunistic attempts by some holier than thou political parties that want to institute a parallel process, whilst all issues relating to Nkandla can and should be presented in one case. All interested parties, including all opposition parties, the public protector and other institutions protecting democracy are welcome to join in the case fight for the protection of the Public Protector as one of the most important constitutional institutions in South Africa. The EFF is convinced that victory on this case is certain and Mr. Zuma will ultimately pay back the money.

PARLIAMENTARY RULES:

The National Assembly irregularly passed a Parliamentary Rule which basically allows for the physical assault of members of Parliament for things they say with their mouths and for their refusal to abide by illegal rulings of Presiding Officers. This Rule was practiced in the sitting of the house on the 10th of September when a Presiding Officer instructed the Parliamentary Protection Services to enter the house to physically remove the Commander in Chief for refusing to withdraw a statement he made on Cyril Ramaphosa’s role in the murder of workers in Marikana.

The presiding officer even went to the extent of arbitrarily suspending the CiC for 5 days without any due process having been followed. We have since approached the court to declare the suspensions illegal and to rescind the Rule whose role is to intimidate members of Parliament.

The EFF has also written to the Speaker to demand immediate action against the NCOP Deputy Chairperson who instructed the Parliamentary bouncers to enter the NCOP Chamber despite the fact that the NCOP does not have the Rule to allow such to happen.

The EFF will fight against all unjust Parliamentary Rules that seek to suppress freedom of expression, the freedom of expression and speech in Parliament is protected by the Constitution and attempts to mutilate this important component of South Africa’s constitutional democracy will render Parliament useless and toothless. We will never allow the ruling party to militarise Parliament, and we will forever remind the Presiding Officers that we are not guests of Zuma and Baleka Mbete in Parliament, but elected representatives with maximum freedom of speech.

PROTEST ACTION AGAINST THE FINANCIAL SECTOR AND REPRESENTATIVES OF WHITE MONOPOLY CAPITAL:

On the 27th of October 2015, the EFF will lead a protest action and March to the Chamber of Mines, Reserve Bank and JSE. The purpose of the march is to demand these representatives of the financial sector and white monopoly capital to play a meaningful role in the lives of all South Africans. The protest will move from Johannesburg CBD to Sandton.

We call on all members of civil society, churches, trade unions and community organisations to join in this massive protest against white monopoly capital. The Mines and Banks continue to exploit our people, and it is high time we confront them directly with the aim of raising concrete demands which should be met.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS PREPARATIONS:

The EFF War Council has started with preparations for the Local Government Elections. The Guidelines on the Election of Ward and PR Councillor candidates will be issued by the extended CCT Meeting on the 26th of September 2015. We are going to contest all the Wards in all Municipalities in South Africa and our candidates will be elected through an internal democratic process, which involves members of the EFF.

We wish to categorically announce that we will welcome members who wish to join the EFF from various political parties, and all those who do so will be subjected to internal democratic selection processes of Candidates of the EFF. We are contesting the Local Government elections with the aim of winning, and such victory will be within the political principles and ideals of the Economic Freedom Fighters.

SRC ELECTIONS:

The EFF appreciates the gradual, yet impactful growth of the Economic Freedom Fighters Students’ Command (EFF SC) in all institutions of Higher Learning. The EFF SC has demonstrated that despite the fact that it was officially launched in June 2015, it is a force to be reckoned with. The levels and extent of success recorded by the EFF SC in various campuses gives hope that the future of the EFF is bright.

For an organisation that is just 3 months old, the EFF SC has achieved what many other students’ organisations have not achieved in many years. We congratulate the EFF SC’s progress in Tshwane University of Technology, North West University and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. We however condemn institutional Managers and Vice Chancellors, particularly in Wits University and University of Fort Hare, who disallow the EFF SC to contest SRC elections.

Including the management of the University of Johannesburg who are victimizing EFF student activists. We call on UJ to withdraw their expulsion case against the EFF student activists because the point is not to close universities against activists, rather it is to educate them. We also call on all students to continue giving confidence and support to the EFF SC because it truly represents the future of South Africa.

ZUMA’S STATEMENT ON COLONEL GADDAFI:

On the 15th of September 2015, Mr. Zuma held an International Relations Peace and Security briefing to Heads of Missions and the Media to state what South Africa’s foreign policy is on various key political questions in the world. The Economic Freedom Fighters notes the many contradictory articulations, particularly on the questions of Palestine and the Middle East crisis, which is caused by apartheid Israel, whose ambassador is still in South Africa and trade relations between the two countries continue unabated.

It is however the Libya question which requires to be clarified because typical of the Zuma administration, what Zuma said represents the highest form of hypocrisy, dishonesty and utter disregard of the people of South Africa and the African continent. On Libya, Mr. Zuma made the following remarks:

“the consistent and systematic bombardment of Libya by Nato forces undermined security in that country—that is why we have got this problem. The migrant crisis is the result of their interference – it is their responsibility, they caused it, and they must address it. That is the painful truth”.

“Before the Arab spring and the killing of Gaddafi, there were no refugees flocking to European countries – it was quite in North Africa. The killing of Libya’s leader led to serious and conflict in the country and opened the floodgates”.

These comments by Mr. Zuma reflect the highest levels of hypocrisy and inconsistency, because Mr. Zuma voted with his friends in the West for the bombing of Libya and killing of Colonel Gaddafi. If there is anyone who is responsible for the murder of Gaddafi in the African continent, it is Mr. Zuma because when he voted for the invasion of Libya, he was assigned by the African Union to find a lasting political solution between the Government of Libya and the sponsored protestors, who were funded by the West to destabilise Libya.

As a matter of fact, Resolution 1973 of the United Nations Security Council gave the Nato forces the power to enforce a no-fly-zone and all means necessary to protect civilians and civilian populated areas. It is the all means necessary that started the war and ultimate assassination of Colonel Gaddafi and everyone who understand the evil intentions of the West understood this correctly.

The President of Gabon, who together South Africa voted for the no-fly zone and all means necessary subsequently admitted that they all knew that they were voting for regime change in Libya. Mr. Zuma, like the Western political Assassins has the blood of Colonel Gaddaffi on his hands and should stop misleading the nation about the circumstances that led to the assassination of Colonel Gaddafi because he was part of it.

Statement issued by Mbuyiseni Quintin Ndlozi, Economic Freedom Fighters, national spokesperson, 17 September 2015