Ranjeni Munusamy Correspondent It would be an interesting exercise to survey how many people will watch Thursday’s Opening of Parliament ju...
Ranjeni Munusamy Correspondent
It would be an interesting exercise to survey how many people will watch Thursday’s Opening of Parliament just to see what the EFF gets up to. The event, usually known for its over-the-top pomp and ceremony and garish fashion, is entirely deflected this year by the EFF’s promise to interrupt President Jacob Zuma’s speech and ask him when he will be paying back the money for the upgrades at his Nkandla residence.
Please Click Link To Read More: Crunch week for South African politics
It would be an interesting exercise to survey how many people will watch Thursday’s Opening of Parliament just to see what the EFF gets up to. The event, usually known for its over-the-top pomp and ceremony and garish fashion, is entirely deflected this year by the EFF’s promise to interrupt President Jacob Zuma’s speech and ask him when he will be paying back the money for the upgrades at his Nkandla residence.
The EFF has announced how and at what moment they plan to confront Zuma, saying they are not prepared to wait till the debate on the SONA next week or the president’s question session in Parliament in March for an answer.
They have hyped up the moment so much that they have a ticker on their website counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds till they can rise on a point of order and ask Zuma when he will reimburse the state. The threat has caused such consternation that Parliament has undertaken extraordinary measures to prepare for anything from a rebel army invasion to a freestyle street brawl in the National Assembly. From spooks overseeing the accreditation process, extra police deployment and Parliamentary staff undergoing self-defence classes, high-level security processes have been put in place.
The Sunday Times reported that on Saturday night, about 80 security staff from Parliament was picked up from their homes for special training.
The paper also reported that 16 “most physically strong” protection officers were sent for a three-day special training camp at a police academy on the Cape Flats where they were trained by the public order policing unit on, among other things, “manhandling” techniques and crowd control.
Two incidents last year when ant-riot police were called in to Parliament sparked a furore as the South African Police Service does not have the powers to intervene in disputes that arise in the House. It seems that proper procedures in the event of a commotion have now been researched, hence the special training for Parliamentary staff.
The nation will have to wait until Thursday to see how this plays out. The additional security measures for invited guests and around the Parliamentary precinct is also quite inexplicable as the supposed threat is from EFF Members of Parliament (MPs) who would be unaffected by the ring of steel. As MPs, they can enter and leave Parliament unhindered and will not be carrying any weapons. Malema has already stated that the EFF will not be bussing in people for the event and that they only require their contingent of elected MPs to execute their plan. Parliament’s staff, including Speaker Baleka Mbete, has been at pains to emphasise that an interruption of the president’s speech will not be allowed and that the EFF will have the opportunity to pose whatever questions they have at the March question session.
But EFF cannot simply drop the issue now after all that hype. They have created such expectation about what they plan to do that if they now abide by the rules of Parliament, which prohibits them from raising a point of order during a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament for such an occasion, it would appear as if they could not follow through on all the big talk.
And there has been some pretty big talk — not only on holding Zuma accountable for Nkandla. The EFF has resolved at its December congress to undertake forcible land occupation and protests at mines. They are encouraging their landless supporters to occupy land, promises to pay the legal expenses to defend them should they get arrested. This also looks like militant rhetoric, but on Sunday the EFF took the first step towards implementing this resolution. Around 100 families were reported to be moving into unoccupied homes in Mzimhlophe, Soweto.
The EFF said government built the houses nine years ago but failed to allocate them to members of the community.
By undertaking the forced occupation this week, the EFF probably wants to show that it is not only about exerting pressure on the president on Nkandla and that its focus remains on the needs of its constituency. On Sunday, Malema visited Mohlakeng on the West Rand, where a violent service delivery protest has been in progress over demands to end corruption, improve service delivery, the dropping of high rates and taxes, the installation of prepaid metres for water and electricity and jobs.
Malema told a community meeting that their protest was justified and that after the 2016 local government elections, the EFF would run the Randfontein municipality. He promised there would never be “peace” in Parliament for as long as people are denied services.
But disturbing Parliament’s peace over service delivery will probably not get the traction the EFF is getting now by promising to pin Zuma down on Nkandla.
While Thursday’s stakes are high, both players are skilled at their respective games. Whatever happens, it will be something to behold in the Parliament of South Africa. — DM.
It is the one issue that the middle classes that did not vote EFF are applauding Malema for. The EFF’s land programme, particularly the forcible seizure of land, will probably have the opposite effect.
So whether the EFF is planning to interrupt the president during the biggest event on the Parliamentary calendar or threatens to go naked if their overalls are not allowed in Parliament, he is applauded.
On Thursday, Zuma and Malema’s paths will cross again.
Ironically, the great expectation for Thursday has to be on Malema, not Zuma.
If Malema cannot deliver on his promise of the best tightrope performance yet, he will lose his greatest asset: the nation’s attention, which, so far, has been essential to his meteoric rise.
While Thursday’s stakes are high, both players are skilled at their respective games. Whatever happens, it will be something to behold in the Parliament of South Africa. — DM
They have hyped up the moment so much that they have a ticker on their website counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds till they can rise on a point of order and ask Zuma when he will reimburse the state. The threat has caused such consternation that Parliament has undertaken extraordinary measures to prepare for anything from a rebel army invasion to a freestyle street brawl in the National Assembly. From spooks overseeing the accreditation process, extra police deployment and Parliamentary staff undergoing self-defence classes, high-level security processes have been put in place.
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| Crunch week for South African politics |
The paper also reported that 16 “most physically strong” protection officers were sent for a three-day special training camp at a police academy on the Cape Flats where they were trained by the public order policing unit on, among other things, “manhandling” techniques and crowd control.
Two incidents last year when ant-riot police were called in to Parliament sparked a furore as the South African Police Service does not have the powers to intervene in disputes that arise in the House. It seems that proper procedures in the event of a commotion have now been researched, hence the special training for Parliamentary staff.
The nation will have to wait until Thursday to see how this plays out. The additional security measures for invited guests and around the Parliamentary precinct is also quite inexplicable as the supposed threat is from EFF Members of Parliament (MPs) who would be unaffected by the ring of steel. As MPs, they can enter and leave Parliament unhindered and will not be carrying any weapons. Malema has already stated that the EFF will not be bussing in people for the event and that they only require their contingent of elected MPs to execute their plan. Parliament’s staff, including Speaker Baleka Mbete, has been at pains to emphasise that an interruption of the president’s speech will not be allowed and that the EFF will have the opportunity to pose whatever questions they have at the March question session.
But EFF cannot simply drop the issue now after all that hype. They have created such expectation about what they plan to do that if they now abide by the rules of Parliament, which prohibits them from raising a point of order during a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament for such an occasion, it would appear as if they could not follow through on all the big talk.
And there has been some pretty big talk — not only on holding Zuma accountable for Nkandla. The EFF has resolved at its December congress to undertake forcible land occupation and protests at mines. They are encouraging their landless supporters to occupy land, promises to pay the legal expenses to defend them should they get arrested. This also looks like militant rhetoric, but on Sunday the EFF took the first step towards implementing this resolution. Around 100 families were reported to be moving into unoccupied homes in Mzimhlophe, Soweto.
The EFF said government built the houses nine years ago but failed to allocate them to members of the community.
By undertaking the forced occupation this week, the EFF probably wants to show that it is not only about exerting pressure on the president on Nkandla and that its focus remains on the needs of its constituency. On Sunday, Malema visited Mohlakeng on the West Rand, where a violent service delivery protest has been in progress over demands to end corruption, improve service delivery, the dropping of high rates and taxes, the installation of prepaid metres for water and electricity and jobs.
Malema told a community meeting that their protest was justified and that after the 2016 local government elections, the EFF would run the Randfontein municipality. He promised there would never be “peace” in Parliament for as long as people are denied services.
But disturbing Parliament’s peace over service delivery will probably not get the traction the EFF is getting now by promising to pin Zuma down on Nkandla.
While Thursday’s stakes are high, both players are skilled at their respective games. Whatever happens, it will be something to behold in the Parliament of South Africa. — DM.
It is the one issue that the middle classes that did not vote EFF are applauding Malema for. The EFF’s land programme, particularly the forcible seizure of land, will probably have the opposite effect.
So whether the EFF is planning to interrupt the president during the biggest event on the Parliamentary calendar or threatens to go naked if their overalls are not allowed in Parliament, he is applauded.
On Thursday, Zuma and Malema’s paths will cross again.
Ironically, the great expectation for Thursday has to be on Malema, not Zuma.
If Malema cannot deliver on his promise of the best tightrope performance yet, he will lose his greatest asset: the nation’s attention, which, so far, has been essential to his meteoric rise.
While Thursday’s stakes are high, both players are skilled at their respective games. Whatever happens, it will be something to behold in the Parliament of South Africa. — DM
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