Parly welcomes ruling dismissing EFF's bid to declare the ejection of its MPs as unlawful

Source: EWN Traffic
Author: Babalo Ndenze

CAPE TOWN - Parliament says it welcomes the Western Cape High Court judgment dismissing an Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) application to declare Parliament's conduct as unconstitutional.

The red berets wanted the court to declare the ejection of its MPs during the State of the Nation Address (SONA) in 2015 and 2017 unlawful.

The EFF was also slapped with a cost order.

The EFF told the court that the conduct of Parliament during those two State of the Nation Addresses violated the rights of its MPs.

The application was based on the order by the presiding officers for certain EFF members to be ejected from the chamber following continuous disruptions through what Parliament called "spurious points of order".

The EFF sought an order declaring that Parliament acted unconstitutionally by ordering the EFF members to be ejected, as this allegedly resulted in the Parliamentary Protection Services using "unreasonable and violent force".

Consequently, the EFF also sought constitutional damages, contingent upon the granting of the declaratory order the party was seeking.

But the EFF said it would be approaching the Constitutional Court directly to appeal the ruling.