At a press briefing in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) president Julius Malema was still visibly shaken by the events that took place at Parliament during President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) last week.
Malema made scathing remarks against the ANC, calling them “a mob of drunkards obsessed with bribes and themselves”.
Malema said he believes Parliament has failed in its constitutional mandate because of the ANC’s conduct and believes Parliament should be dissolved.
“I want to resign from Parliament and do more work on the ground. But my worry is that if we leave Parliament, they [the ANC] will destroy it. We are there to guard against such tendencies,” he said.
Malema further said that the EFF’s decision to hold a press briefing in Johannesburg instead of appearing in Parliament for the joint meeting to discuss the SONA was to get their message across clearly.
“Whether we are here or there, our message would have been the same. At least here they will not be able to harass us and switch off microphones like they always do,” he said. “Here we can get our message across without any interruptions,” he added.
Malema explained that one of their senior members had come across security guards holding cable ties during the SONA proceedings and raised the matter before the Speaker to expose their shady dealings.
“They wanted to inject us and tie us up while they were attacking us,” he said.
“We needed to be careful because we don’t know what biological matter was in those injections,” adding that they have sent all the members affected to get blood tests done.
Malema made it clear that they would not deviate from the call they made during the SONA that President Zuma does not deserve to hold his title.
“Zuma took an oath of office and he has broken it. Why punish us for breaking the rules of Parliament? He must be punished for breaking the rules of the constitution,” he said.
Malema said they would continue in their strategy to disrupt Parliament because they have “scientific proof” that it is effective. “The 1.2 million votes received in the municipal elections is scientific proof of this,” he said.