EFF STATEMENT ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT JUDGEMENT

31 March 2016

On the Constitutional Court Judgment

The Economic Freedom Fighters welcomes the judgment of the Constitutional Court concerning the matter brought by the Economic Freedom Fighters on 1) The Powers of the Public Protector, 2) The President's implementation of the Public Protector's remedial action, and 3) The President’s breach of the Oath of Office and the Constitution.

The Constitutional Court affirmed the Powers and Functions of the Public Protector as established in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, in terms of Section 182. The Constitutional Court affirmed the principle that the remedial actions of the Public Protector are binding and can only be challenged in a Court of Law. Compliance to the Public Protector's remedial action was therefore not optional.

Most importantly, the Constitutional Court ordered Jacob Zuma to Pay Back the Money for the non security upgrades on his Nkandla private residence. In addition, that he must reprimand the ministers involved in the Nkandla saga. This represents the victory of the EFF programme of holding the executive accountable and stoping all forms of corruption. We promised that we will make sure that the Nkandla corruption is addressed, and we have achieved that in less than two years in parliament.

On the 6th August, 2015 during the Question and Answer session in parliament, we told Zuma that we will meet in Court. This is despite the fact that many in the opposition did not believe in our course of action. Only when the Constitutional Court agreed to hear the EFF matter did they opportunistically join in so that they can score cheap political points. Nevertheless, it will go down in history that the EFF demonstrated superior logic and leadership on the matter of Nkandla, and everyone followed.

The Constitutional Court further found that President Jacob Zuma failed to uphold, defend and protect the Constitution in his recurrent disregard of the Public Protector. This amounts to breach of oath of office and should constitute grounds for the impeachment of the President. Mr. Zuma has foregone the right to be treated as a President of the Republic of South Africa and should therefore not be treated as a President.

Additionally, the Constitutional Court found that Parliament has also failed to uphold its constitutional obligation to hold the executive accountable. It has also failed to protect, uphold and protect the constitution of the Republic.

The EFF therefore calls on Jacob Zuma to respectfully resign as President of the Republic of South Africa with immediate effect because it is now beyond reasonable doubt that he has failed to uphold, defend and protect the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. Zuma cannot continue to be President of the Republic as this judgment means he is guilty of breaking his oath of office. He cannot continue to be entrusted with protecting the constitution as the supreme law of the land. In fact, the people of South Africa must be protected from him.

We call on the ANC to do the right and recall their criminal from the highest office in the land, failure of which we shall institute impeachment motion in parliament. In the process, between now and the impeachment motion, we vow that Zuma will never address parliament, if needs be, we will remove him physically.

The ANC dominated parliament has been violating the constitution from the beginning of time when they removed us violently for telling Zuma to do what the constitutional court has ruled on today; that he must pay back the money. This is a chance for them to repent from their ways and immediately recall Zuma. They must not force down the throats of South Africans a man who is looking out only for his interests, who is willing to violate the supreme law of of land to get what he wants.

It is important for the ANC to remember that it recalled President Thabo Mbeki on the basis of a court judgement of one judge which was later set aside by the Supreme Court. In the case of Jacob Zuma, the Highest Court in the land, with 11 judges, have unanimously agreed that Zuma has breached his oath of office, and thus violated the constitution. His case cannot be appealed, and thus, it constituted superior logic and reason for his recall.

We further call for the 5th Democratic Parliament to be dissolved following the ruling on Nkandla. All evidence points to the fact that this parliament went out of its way to protect Zuma against the condition. It violated its basic mandate and the supreme law of the land. South Africans must therefore get a chance to re-elect a parliament that will service them in the best interest of the constitution. This effectively means that an early general election must be convened to restore the rule of law.

The ANC dominated Parliament violated the constitution when it called police to forcefully assault and remove EFF Members of Parliament. This however may not constitute breach of its mandate, of its reason for existence. However, the Constitutional Court ruling today pronounced on a much deeper matter that has to do with why Parliament in the first place exists and that is to hold the executive accountable. In this regard, amending the remedial action of the Public Protector in as far as the Nkandla Matter is concerned, is violation of basic mandate of accountability. In addition, the 5th Democratic Parliament has failed to protect the constitution, thus, it cannot be entrusted to protect it. It must be dissolved.

We have arrived at this conclusion because a motion of impeachment of Jacob Zuma will be futile because the 5th Democratic Parliament itself has been actively complicit in the violation of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

Finally, we call on the people of South Africa to rise and take to the streets in an unapologetic demand for Zuma to step down. It is in the best interest of all of us, in particular the restoration of the rule of law. The EFF’s struggle is for the restoration of the principle of a constitutional democracy. Our democracy is not a tyranny of the majority, nor is it about the arrogance of numbers. Those who hold public office must pass the test of being elected by the majority and  also be compliant with the constitution. The elevation of majority rule at the expense of constitutional compliance constitutes tyranny and dictatorship.

On the Guptas

The struggle against Zuma corruption does not stop with Nkandla, it extends to the corrupt relationship of Zuma and the Gupta family. The Gupta matter represents the long zombification process that has characterised the liberation movement. Wealthy families in this country have been zombifying leaders of the ANC since the days of Nelson Mandela. The Menel family is knows for giving Mandela accommodation upon his departure from his home in Soweto. Here, the Menels ensured that Mandela turns from the demands of the liberation struggle, in particular nationalisation of mines in favour of a neo-liberal agenda.

Trevor Manuel and Cyril Ramaphosa have also been zombified by the Ruperts and the Oppenheimers respectively. In once instance, Manuel was even told to never wear a red tie because it signalled socialism. This is after he had warn it when presenting a budget to parliament and markets fall in reaction of the supposed red tie. There is no worse form of zombification than this one where you are even told what to wear.

The Gupta therefore as the new zombi-masters who have captured Zuma and many in his cabinet and the ANC. We know for a fact that Zuma’s recent visit to the United Arab Emirates had nothing to do with South Africa’s interests but the interests of the Guptas. The stated reasons that Zuma went to advance the tourist market interests of our country are false. Zuma went to Dubai, which is a tax heaven, to deliver the money of the Guptas and himself. Zuma used this strategy because his plane, unlike all other civilian planes, does not get subjected to custom checks. The corruption of the Guptas is no longer hiding behind The New Age and ANN7, it is now directly using the Zuma to transport its investments by moving them to Dubai.

We also call on the National Treasury to conduct a lifestyle audit of Minister Malusi Gigaba who has not declared any additional income, yet he leaves way beyond his means. It is not a secret that Malusi Gigaba is one of the Gupta zombis and they clothe him and take care of all the luxurious life, him, his wife and concubines live through amongst other things, an off shore account.

Many people think the Guptas are the EFF target because we are afraid of white capital. These doomsayers have political amnesia because the EFF is well known to be at the forefront of fighting white monopoly capital. The leadership of the EFF has also been subject of abuse by wealthy white families who worked hard to kill their political and public profile whilst they belonged to liberation movements.

Many will recall that Nicky Oppenheimer had characterised the CIC Julius Malema as an irritating mosquito in a tent that needs doom. Oppenheimer had said this because of the CIC Julius Malema’s ideological domination in the ANC, in particular on the revolutionary demands of the liberation movement for the nationalisation of mines.

We will fight the Guptas because they are not black. We do not subscribe to the misleading idea that blackness is a matter of pigmentation. If this was the case, Bantustan leaders like Mangope and Mathandsima would have not been targets of anti-apartheid revolutionaries. Blackness is a matter of consciousness. Those who are corrupt, who steal against black people, do not form part of black people. They are simply non-whites and will be fought with the same energy and passion as any system that seeks to render black people’s lives into waste.

Conclusion

We shall fight to the end, using any revolutionary means possible to resist the collapse of our country. We are at the forefront of uncompromisingly defeating corruption precisely because our generational mandate requires a strong, corrupt free government that will run the commanding heights of the economy for the attainment of economic freedom in our lifetime.

Statement issued by Julius Malema, Economic Freedom Fighters Commander-in-Chief, 31 March 2016