Share

Retired judge must preside over debate - Malema

Cape Town - A retired judge should be appointed to chair parliamentary debates, EFF leader Julius Malema suggested on Thursday.

Briefing journalists after an Economic Freedom Fighters' caucus meeting, Malema called into question the objectivity of Parliament's current presiding officers.

"We are not impressed at all with these presiding officers because of their partisan attitude when they deal with matters of Parliament," Malema said.

"Everything they do, the ANC tells them what to do."

The appointment of a retired judge would cut out "subjective rulings".

"We should have a retired judge presiding over the two Houses... so that there is objective rulings on any matter," he said.

"Retired judges are not scared of anything. They are not looking for promotion."

Several of the 25 EFF MPs have been ruled out of order many times since they were sworn in in the National Assembly on 21 May.

Malema was ordered to leave a joint parliamentary sitting last month after refusing to withdraw a remark accusing the ANC of murdering mineworkers in Marikana in 2012.

He has since filed papers in the Western Cape High Court asking that the ruling be declared unlawful.

Malema claims his statements fall under the protection of the Constitution and wants an apology from National Council of Provinces chairperson Thandi Modise.

Claims of humiliation

In a 10-page affidavit, he claims he and the EFF have been humiliated.

Several parliamentary debates since then have seen temperatures rise, and have resulted in the ejection of other EFF MPs.

Malema said despite the rulings against them, this was only the beginning, as MPs would continue to be a "necessary irritation" in Parliament.

"We are here to make them run for their money. They are sleeping here," he said.

"We are going to hit them hard towards the point where the real person comes out."

Malema also took a swipe at ANC MPs, calling them "weak" after he and his party were compared to former German dictator Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party.

The claims were originally made by Deputy Minister in the Presidency Buti Manamela during a parliamentary debate.

"What they know is slogans, songs and rhetoric," he said.

"They are very good at howling. Sometimes you can even think they are drunk the way they howl," Malema said.

 

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should the Proteas pick Faf du Plessis for the T20 World Cup in West Indies and the United States in June?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Faf still has a lot to give ...
66% - 581 votes
No! It's time to move on ...
34% - 304 votes
Vote
Rand - Dollar
19.01
+0.1%
Rand - Pound
23.78
+0.1%
Rand - Euro
20.39
+0.1%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.43
-0.3%
Rand - Yen
0.12
+0.4%
Platinum
932.30
+0.7%
Palladium
994.50
+0.4%
Gold
2,337.69
+0.2%
Silver
27.59
+0.6%
Brent Crude
89.01
+1.1%
Top 40
68,437
0.0%
All Share
74,329
0.0%
Resource 10
62,119
0.0%
Industrial 25
102,531
0.0%
Financial 15
15,802
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE