Malema to miss SONA after court rejects application
The Western Cape High Court on Tuesday struck off the roll an EFF application to overturn the suspension of some of their MPs who disrupted last year's State of the Nation Address.
The case was dismissed with costs.
In November, Parliament's Powers and Privileges Committee ordered six EFF MPs, including party leader Julius Malema and his deputy Floyd Shivambu, to apologise to President Cyril Ramaphosa for disrupting his State of the Nation Address in February.
They were also ordered to apologise to National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Parliament and the public.
The committee also ordered that all six MPs have one month's salary docked in February.
The MPs were found guilty of being in contempt of Parliament after they crossed the floor and jumped onto the podium where Ramaphosa was speaking.
The party was protesting what they believed to be a cover-up by Ramaphosa over the money stolen from his Phala Phala farm.
Other sanctioned MPS include Marshall Dlamini, Sinawo Tambo, Vuyani Pambo, and Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.
The committee's initiator, Advocate Anton Katz, recommended a ten-day suspension from 6 February 2024 to 16 February.
This would see the MPs miss the State of the Nation Address, scheduled for 8 February.
Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo says the suspensions of the six EFF members are effective from Thursday.
"We concur with the majority judgment that the responsibility lies with the applicant, in this case, the EFF, to ensure that they adhere to court rules and have a well-prepared case that is ripe for hearing.
"The EFF's imposed unreasonable timeframes and their filing on midnight before the next court day not only inconvenienced Parliament and the court but also indicated their lack of readiness for their application to be heard."
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