On Wednesday, Julius Malema, South Africa’s opposition leader, along with five other MPs from his Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, received a one-month suspension without pay from parliament.
The Parliament’s Powers and Privileges Committee ruled them guilty of contempt of parliament due to their actions of storming the stage during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address at the Cape Town City Hall in February.
The speaker halted the proceedings while security personnel escorted Mr. Malema and the other MPs out of the hall.
The committee added that “each member must also make an apology in person in the House to the President, the Speaker and the people of South Africa” for disrupting the president’s address and “putting the country in a bad light”.
The six MPs’ suspension will span the entire month of February next year, preventing Mr. Malema and the other five MPs from attending the upcoming state of the nation address scheduled for that month.
The EFF MPs declined to take part in the hearings against them on Monday after the committee rejected their request for a postponement.
Mr. Malema voiced his objection to the appointment of advocate Anton Katz as the initiator in the hearing.
“I will not be persecuted by a white man,” Mr Malema said.
