CAPE TOWN, WESTERN CAPE — The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) are challenging National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza’s decision not to oppose President Cyril Ramaphosa’s legal bid to halt the Phala Phala impeachment inquiry. The dispute was brought to the forefront during a meeting of Parliament’s Section 89 impeachment committee, where opposition leaders accused the Speaker of neglecting her constitutional duty to defend the legislature’s oversight processes.
EFF leader Julius Malema led the criticism, insisting that Didiza should have actively challenged the President’s court application rather than standing aside. He argued that the President’s attempt to challenge the parliamentary panel report left the Speaker with a singular mandate from her legal counsel.
“The president is challenging the panel report of Parliament. The speaker’s advice, legal advice, was only one option: oppose. There were no two options,” Malema stated.
He further accused Didiza of ignoring her own independent legal advice and misrepresenting her options to the public. “The Speaker can’t rely on the legal advice of our committee. She went to get her own legal advice. [It] said oppose. Then the legal advice told her what she didn’t want to hear,” Malema explained. He accused the Speaker of being dishonest in recent media interviews by claiming she had the option to simply let the legal process run its course, asserting, “Her advice doesn’t have that option. It is your advice which has got that option.”
Adding to the mounting pressure, MKP representative Andile Mngxitama echoed the EFF’s sentiments, emphasizing the urgent need to protect the integrity of the legislature. He strongly criticized what he described as the Speaker’s abdication of her institutional leadership responsibilities.
Mngxitama argued that the committee must adopt a much stronger attitude toward Didiza’s inaction. “She has the institutional leadership to protect the work of this Parliament, and the highest court has ruled that this Parliament must do its work,” he said.
Rejecting the notion of passive observation, the MKP representative stressed that the Speaker cannot simply “throw her hands out and say that let the process take its course.” Instead, he insisted that she must take a definitive position to protect the institution.
Concluding his remarks, Mngxitama noted that mere expressions of disappointment from the committee are no longer sufficient. “We need to find a way to persuade her to do what is correct,” he urged, calling for immediate action to ensure the Speaker fulfills her constitutional obligations.
