Zimpapers Logo

JOHANNESBURG. – Economic Freedom Fighters ­leader Julius Malema says National ­Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete must either convene an early special sitting of the House to allow President Jacob Zuma to conclude a question and ­answer session that be began five months ago, or his party will disrupt the state of the nation speech, City Press reports.

In a two-page letter to Mbete, Malema calls on her to convene the special sitting before the official opening of Parliament on February 12, or the EFF will disrupt President Zuma during the opening of Parliament.

“We officially ask that you convene ­Parliament prior to the 12th of February 2015, which will primarily afford the President of the Republic of South Africa [to finish his question session].

“Please note that failure to accommodate our request will give us no other option, but to insist that President Jacob Zuma answer the questions [during] the State of the Nation address,” Malema wrote.

President Zuma last appeared in Parliament in ­August when his question and answer session was ­interrupted by EFF MPs shouting “pay back the money”, a reference to findings of the Public Protector that Zuma was ­liable for all non-security upgrades at his home in Nkandla.

Pandemonium broke out after EFF MPs ­accused Zuma of being evasive with his ­answers. They banged on tables and chairs, and police had to be called in to try to ­restore order. The sitting was eventually abandoned.

Since then, opposition parties have been trying to get Zuma back to Parliament to ­answer a number of questions posed by MPs, specifically on the Nkandla matter.

Malema warned in the letter that should his request be ignored, his party would have no choice but to use the state of the nation speech to demand answers from the president.

Should the EFF carry out its threat, it would be the first time since 1994 that a sitting president’s state of the nation speech gets disrupted. – City Press.