Yesterday the ruling party accused Malema of illegally sneaking his “personal bodyguards” into the National Assembly to protect him while he assaulted parliament’s protection services officials.

The ANC and the DA were reacting to Tuesday’s fracas in the National Assembly, where members of the EFF’s caucus were physically removed.

DA chief whip John Steenhuisen said the party received reports that two of the so-called “white shirts” in the chamber were in fact Malema’s “personal bodyguards” posing as members of parliament’s protection services.

“Parliament is investigating the claims and formulating charges against the relevant culprits. Close examination of video footage . shows what appears to be a man in a white shirt rush to Malema’s side during the EFF’s ejection .and fight off other members of parliament’s protection services in an effort to protect him,” said Steenhuisen.

He said if the reports were true, it would mean the EFF went into Tuesday’s sitting with an “explicit agenda to disrupt the day’s programme and meet violence with violence”.

ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu said MPssaw people alleged to be security or bodyguards of Malema enter the chamber.

“We have asked parliament to do a thorough investigation on this security breach,” he said, adding that members of the chamber must be told how this happened and what would be done to stop this kind of security breach.

“[We] can’t afford to risk the lives of our president and deputy president,” he said.

The EFF’s Mbuyiseni Ndlozi dismissed the DA’s statement as hypocrisy, in relation to the “violence that EFF members received”.

He said the whole country witnessed that, as the scuffle broke out, members of Zuma’s bodyguards came into the chamber to encircle him.

[Source: Times Live]