Address by Economic Freedom Fighter leader Julius Malema's speech in response to President Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation Address, Parliament, June 18 2014
Mr J S MALEMA: Madam Chair, President of the Republic of South Africa and hon members of this Parliament, thank you for affording us an opportunity to respond to the state of the nation address delivered by our President. We want to acknowledge and greet the millions of South African workers, the poor, downtrodden and dejected masses of our people, particularly the one million plus South Africans who voted for the EFF to come to this Parliament and represent the agenda of economic freedom in our lifetime without any fear of contradiction.
Our people mandated this movement, the EFF, to come to speak on behalf of the homeless, the landless, domestic workers, security guards, farm workers, cleaners, waiters and waitresses, recipients of social grants, construction workers, the unemployed and the poverty-stricken masses of our people who are forgotten by the ruling elite, which is in bed with the oppressors and the imperialist forces. [Applauses.]
I thought it was going to be difficult for me to carry this mandate with a serious commitment against the party which taught me everything I know today about politics. But this was made easy by seeing Mr Marthinus van Schalkwyk on the benches of the ruling party. I then quickly remembered that, by the way, we are not opposing the ANC we joined then, the ANC of Lawrence Phokanoka, but we are opposing the ANC of Marthinus van Schalkwyk and Cyril Ramaphosa. [Applause.] [Interjections.]
Mr President, when you spoke yesterday you reaffirmed the belief that indeed we have chosen the correct path, because you no longer represent the hope of the hopeless masses of our people. Your speech yesterday was uninspiring and lacked a central theme, Mr President. No one will remember what you said last night except that we should clean on Mandela Day, which was the only emphasis you made - and maybe because you thought it was the simplest subject you had to deal with in the whole speech last night.
What was supposed to be the simplest subject for you has proven to be more complex than you thought, Mr President, because your cleaning instruction goes against the wishes of President Mandela who said it must be the individual's choice of how they wish to remember him or celebrate his life. I am sorry, Mr President, I won't be cleaning on Mandela Day; I will be involved in more productive activities which will leave a long-lasting legacy in remembrance of our world icon. [Applause.] And those activities will, amongst other things, include the rebuilding of mud schools in the Eastern Cape and the closing of potholes.
Mr B A RADEBE: Hon Chairperson, the speaker called the Deputy President of the Republic: Cyril Ramaphosa. I think he is "hon" as a member of this House. Could you rule on that? Thank you.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Malema, the hon Deputy President of this House is an hon member of this House.
Mr J S MALEMA: No problem ... hon Cyril Ramaphosa. [Laughter.] Mr President, you tried to speak about radical socioeconomic changes in your speech last night but nothing you said was radical. Instead, we heard a repetition of what has been said before. I know very well that your attempt to make radical economic changes your central theme in your speech last night was a direct response to the existence of the EFF, or even an attempt to delegitimise it ... [Interjections.] ... but you successfully failed in the same way you failed when you introduced the red beret to counter that of the EFF during the election campaign.
You and your party should stop playing with semantics especially when they relate to radical economic agenda because you lack courage and you have sold out the revolution. You don't have what it takes to lead the struggle for economic emancipation of the black majority, particularly Africans. You are extremely scared of white people, particularly white monopoly capital. In the past 20 years you have defended the privileges of white minority and continue with the exploitation and exclusion of the oppressed black majority.
The reason for this is because the elite pact that was forced upon the people in 1994 does not allow for radical economic transformation and changes. The pact defends the colonial and apartheid ownership patterns of the means of production, including property. The ANC is part of an elite pact that seeks to protect white monopoly capital and white minority privileges, and this has led to the formation of the EFF because there was a political vacuum and nature does not allow a vacuum. [Applause.] The EFF is here to lead the struggle to dismantle the elite pact and introduce the sunrise clauses.
The pact has even made you accept the wrong things, such as the laws that have run this Parliament for the past 20 years - for example, the 1975 Act that makes it compulsory for Members of Parliament to join a certain medical aid scheme. You have been part of this illegal and unconstitutional law for the past 20 years. It only took the EFF less than 100 days to reject this law. [Applause.] And Parliament's lawyers have agreed with us that indeed this law is unconstitutional; a law you have complied with. [Applause.]
This elite pact is reflected by the fact that the most prominent statue in this Parliament is the statue of Louis Botha. The statue of Nelson Mandela is very small and hidden behind the statue of Louis Botha. Louis Botha is not our hero, and cannot be a hero of a democratic South Africa. He is a colonial warmonger who fought for the exclusion of black and indigenous people from running their own country and affairs. It is people like this who made white South Africans think that they are superior, and, if we continue celebrating them, we are perpetuating, equally, white supremacy.
The statue of Botha outside this Parliament must go down, because it represents nothing of what a democratic South Africa stands for. [Applause.] The statue represents backwardness and apartheid, and therefore it belongs in the dustbin of history and should be replaced with a bigger statue of Seaparankwe Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela. We will never have true friendship and peace if the white minority still behaves like they are superior and we should remain inferior in our own country. All black people continue to learn the languages of white minorities as part of our attempt to reach out to them and create friendship, but with very little attempt from their side to at least learn one of our African languages, because they have the wrong mentality that we must suck up to them.
These are some of the legacies people like Louis Botha have left us and they must be crushed. We must not celebrate anything that perpetuates white supremacy. As part of nation-building, maybe we need to take harsh steps by not celebrating any white person who does not speak at least, or know, one of the African languages. [Applause.] [Interjections.] If you have a white friend as a black person and he or she does not know your language or take the initiative to learn your language or your culture, that person is no friend at all.
We need to undermine the legacy of apartheid through the celebration of our blackness, and unashamedly advance the political, social and economic liberation of blacks in general and Africans in particular. We must do away with self-hate and embrace who we are and what we stand for. The time for the black majority to benefit from the natural, mineral and beauty of their country is now and can never be postponed. [Applause.]
This is where we start. Now, we should deal with the politics of what you raised yesterday. You have promised jobs before, and you have repeatedly failed to create jobs. In your first address to this House as President, you promised to create 500 000 jobs in six months, yet you failed and no one held you accountable.
Our people are being called upon to celebrate 20 years of freedom, and we really do not know what they should celebrate because the past 20 years have been 20 years of suffering for the poorest of the poor.
Mnr P J GROENEWALD: Agb Speaker, is die agb lid bereid om 'n vraag te beantwoord? Dit is 'n baie maklike vraag. Ek wil vir hom vra: Why does he deliver his speech in a white man's language, that of English, and not in his own mother tongue? [Laughter.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Malema, are you prepared to respond to the question?
Mr J S MALEMA: I have no time for racist questions. [Interjections.]
Our people are called upon to celebrate 20 years of freedom. We really do not know what they should celebrate because the past 20 years have been 20 years of suffering for the poorest of the poor. It has been 20 years of joblessness and unemployment for the majority of our people, in particular the youth. Thirty-five percent of South Africans capable of working are unemployed and the majority of those who are employed are paid very low salaries.
Mr President, whatever you have said about jobs has been as false and inconsistent as the performance of your party for the past 20 years. However you look at it, in 1995 unemployment stood at 15%, and now, at this moment, it stands at 25% or 36% with an expanded definition. Seventy percent of this demographic are the youth. This is your legacy - you have more than doubled unemployment. More than half of the working people earn R3 300 or less. A third of all workers are now employed through labour brokers and, might I remind you, that you said in 2009 that 2014 would be the year in which you would have halved unemployment.
You also promised to distribute 30% of the land in this very year. You promised to halve poverty by 2014. You promised to provide security of tenure to 400 000 households of people who live in informal settlements.
You keep making the same promises and misleading this House, and hon members clap hands. They encourage this mediocrity, lack of leadership and misleading of the nation and the poor.
You are a man of tradition, Mr President; a tradition of empty promises. Now knowing you will not be here in 2030, please say nothing about 2030, because you will not be here. [Applause.]
The President said a minimum wage shall be investigated. There is no need to investigate. This House must show leadership and courage. The workers have already shown the way.
For five months now, workers in the platinum belt have been on strike, which demonstrates their genuine determination. They were striking for R12 500, when the ANC massacred 34 of them two years ago for doing so. In honour of those who died in Marikana, let this House legislate for R12 500. This will be a sign of remorse and regret for the Marikana massacre. We also demand the establishment of a parliamentary commission on the conditions and salaries of mine workers, including the auditing of the financial books ...
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order, Mr Malema!
Mr B A RADEBE: Chairperson, on a point of order: The speaker said the ANC government massacred people two years ago. Is that parliamentary? Is there any proof of that? Could you rule on that, Chairperson?
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Mr Malema?
Mr J S MALEMA: I maintain that.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Mr Malema ...
Mr J S MALEMA: The ANC government massacred the people in Marikana. Those police were representing the ANC government.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Mr Malema!
Mr J S MALEMA: I am not going to withdraw.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Morena!
Mr J S MALEMA: It's not going to happen that.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Malema, hon Malema ...
Mr J S MALEMA: I'm all yours, Chair.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Malema!
Mr J S MALEMA: Hon Chair.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Please accept that this House and all our Houses of Parliament have simple Rules to follow in a debate. The last time we said hold your horses, because we were taking a point of order. I was asked to rule, and even before I gave you the go-ahead you were on. Please do not do that again. The hon member of the ANC raised a point. You contest that point - you said that you were sustaining it. I wish to take this point on advice, hon members, and we will rule on it tomorrow, because it is not an open-and-shut statement that you make and conclude with. There are many implications with it. I would like to be properly advised when I come back to this House with a ruling tomorrow. You may continue, Ntate Malema.
Mr J S MALEMA: We call for a parliamentary commission on the conditions and salaries of mine workers including the auditing of the financial books of all the mines by the state to ascertain for ourselves how much the mining sector is making in this country, because we do not trust the current financial disclosure by the mining sector.
Mr President, you have spoken about radical socioeconomic changes. And, if indeed, you meant what you said, then you would agree with me that there is nothing radical about preserving the current exploitative economic structure. Otherwise, what has been suggested here is merely old wine in a new bottle. We are back to Gear by another name, which Blade Nzimande called "The 1996 class project" and the "the most serious strategic threat to the national democratic revolution". [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order, members! [Interjections.] Order, members! Hon Malema, there is an hon Blade Nzimande in this House.
Mr J S MALEMA: Hon Blade Nzimande, in his factional battles with President Thabo Mbeki, said ...
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Malema! Hon Malema, I will not have this House degenerate into this. Please debate the state of the nation address. The factional battles and whatever - let them stay ... [Inaudible.]
Mr J S MALEMA: No, no, no, Chair. I don't agree with that. [Interjections.] No, I don't agree with that.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Malema!
Mr J S MALEMA: No, you are not going to tell me, Chair, how I must debate. [Interjections.] You are not going to tell me how I must debate. [Interjections.] No. No. I can't be told what to say.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Malema! [Interjections.] Order, members! [Interjections.]
Hon members, I am quite fit to sit in this Chair. Hon Malema, we have taken you through the Rules of the Houses. You will desist from making disparaging remarks about the persons of the hon members of this House. [Interjections.]
Mr N P KHOZA: Point of order, Chair. The Chairperson is out of order. [Interjections.] When the hon Mmusi Maimane referred to the factional battles in the ANC, the Chairperson did not call him to order. So the Chairperson must be consistent in the application of the Rules of Parliament.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: This Chairperson is very consistent. The hon Maimane referred to the factional battles in the party. He did not apportion them to a particular member of this House. Hon Malema, withdraw those remarks.
Mr J S MALEMA: Hon Chair?
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: ... on the factional tendencies or otherwise of the hon Blade Nzimande.
Mr J S MALEMA: Okay, hon Chair. I withdraw.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Thank you. You may proceed.
Mr J S MALEMA: Mr President, you clearly do not know what radical economic transformation means. What is radical about the EPWP, the Expanded Public Works Programme? What is radical about buying stolen land? Maybe we must give you a few tips on what is radical economic transformation. You must be prepared, if you want to advance this agenda of radical transformation, to expropriate the stolen land without compensation. [Applause.] You must be prepared to nationalise the mines, the banks and other strategic sectors of the economy. You must be prepared, Mr President, to protect local industries and ensure that they continue to be productive. Mr President, you must provide free quality education up until tertiary level. Mr President, you cannot celebrate the two glorified high schools, which are wrongly called universities in the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga, because the two of them are going to take only 350 people.
We need to engage, Mr President, in a deliberate programme to send 10 000 students outside the country to the best of the best universities, because all the countries which have succeeded sent their learners and their youth to learn outside their countries.
Mr President, you were on paraffin speed building stadiums for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, but you are failing to build schools and you are failing to build basic things like toilets.
Radical economic transformation means we must play ...
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Malema, I'm afraid your time is up. Thank you very much.
Mr J S MALEMA: No, but those orders ate into my time. [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Malema! [Interjections.]
Mr J S MALEMA: Ahh Chair! Mr President, "Le ge o ka e tima meetse, o tla bona e nwele." [Applause.]
Transcript of the ruling by Chairperson of the NCOP, Thandi Modise, Parliament, June 19 2014:
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members, I indicated earlier this morning that I would come back to the House and make rulings on some of the points of order which arose from the debate yesterday. I wish to take that opportunity now.
I want to start with the remarks made by hon Malema.
At the Joint Sitting of 18 June 2014, hon member Radebe raised a point of order against a statement made by hon Malema during his speech. The statement reads:
They-
referring to the mineworkers-
were striking for R12 500, when the ANC massacred 34 of them two years ago for doing so.
After the point of order was stated, hon Malema maintained his statement and reiterated:
The ANC government massacred the people in Marikana. Those police were representing the ANC government.
Despite an attempt to call hon Malema to order, he insisted that he was not going to withdraw.
I indicated yesterday that I would make a ruling on this matter.
Hon members, having perused the Hansard, I have arrived at the conclusion that the statements made by hon Malema are unparliamentary and do not accord with the decorum of this House. Although members enjoy freedom of speech during the proceedings of this House, this freedom is subject to limitations imposed by the Constitution and the Joint Rules.
The statements made by hon Malema suggest that the government - which is made up of members of this House - deliberately decided to massacre the people of Marikana. This does not only impute improper motives to those members of the House, but it also accuses them of murder.
Secondly, I must also indicate that there commission has been set up by the President to enquire into this matter and that that commission has not yet made any findings. It is therefore undesirable to make statements which will second-guess the outcomes of that commission.
I want to further remind hon members of this House that a Ruling made by a Presiding Officer is final. Statements like "I am not going to withdraw" sound contemptuous and are also challenging to the authority of the officer presiding.
Having said that, hon members, I request hon Malema to withdraw his statements which said that the ANC and the ANC government massacred the people in Marikana.
Hon Malema?
Mr S J MALEMA: Chair, when the police reduce crime, you come here and say that the ANC has reduced crime. When the police kill people, you don't want us to come here and say that the ANC government has killed people. That is inconsistent, hon Chair. [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Malema, the instruction to you is, withdraw the statements you made.
Mr S J MALEMA: I won't do that. I am sorry. I won't do that. I maintain...
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Malema, I will ask you again to withdraw those statements.
Mr S J MALEMA: Chair, I maintain that the ANC government killed people in Marikana.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon Malema, you leave me no choice but to ask you to leave the House.
Mr S J MALEMA: No problem.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Thank you. [Interjections.]
An HON MEMBER: You murdered people in Marikana! [Interjections.]
An HON MEMBER: You killed people... [Interjections.]
An HON MEMBER: You were the premier there! [Interjections.]
An HON MEMBER: You are murderers! [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon members, leave the House! [Interjections.]
An HON MEMBER: You were the premier, Thandi, when people were killed! [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Yes, I was the premier.
An HON MEMBER: Mercenaries! [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Leave the House! [Interjections.]
An HON MEMBER: You murdered people in Marikana! [Interjections.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Serjeant at arms, make sure that the door is closed! [Interjections.]
An HON MEMBER: All the people who are against murder must leave.
Afrikaans:
'n AGB LID: Julle is moordenaars! Julle het die mense in Marikana vermoor! [Tussenwerpsels.] [You are murderers! You murdered the people at Marikana!] [Interjections.]
English:
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Leave the House, sir!
Hon members, there was also... [Interjections.] You are excited... There was also...
Ms M T KUBAYI: Chairperson, I rise on a point of order: I apologise but I need to raise this point of order. In terms of the Rules and the code of conduct, the members of the EFF have really brought this House into disrepute. I would like to request that a proper process is put in place to investigate their conduct and that appropriate action be taken. Thank you. [Applause.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Hon member, the Rules and the Joint Rules do create the opportunity for us to do exactly as you recommend to the House. We shall do so. [Applause.]
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP
Statement of the Chairperson of the NCOP, Thandi Modise, Parliament, June 20 2014:
INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR BY EFF MEMBERS WHILST EXITING CHAMBER
(Statement)
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Thank you, hon President. Hon members, I wish to make a statement on the serious incident that occurred in the Joint Sitting yesterday after my considered Ruling on the remarks made by the hon J S Malema.
The hon member refused to withdraw remarks when directed to do so by the Chair, where after he was called upon to withdraw from the Chamber in terms of the Rules. As hon members will recall, the other members of his party followed suit.
Whilst leaving, disruptive and unacceptable behaviour was demonstrated by a number of those hon members. Parliament has Rules and Procedures which outline the order of proceedings and provide guidelines for appropriate behaviour. The type of behaviour manifested in the House is not in keeping with the decorum of Parliament and cannot be ignored.
I will not go into detail, except to indicate that I have asked for the Hansard and audio-visual recordings of the incident. As this is a Joint Sittings, and members from both Houses are affected, I have to confer with the Speaker of the National Assembly on this matter, as well as take advice on it.
This may very well be a matter that could reside under the mandate of the powers and privileges committees in terms of section 12 of the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act, Act 4 of 2004. The House will be informed on the action to be taken on this matter.
The Joint Sitting adjourned at 10:55.
Source: Hansard, unrevised transcript
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