“The DA will write to the Speaker of Parliament, Baleka Mbete, and its Secretary, Gengezi Mgidlana, to request that they publicise Parliament’s clean-up and repair costs following the EFF’s violence and destruction on the precinct yesterday afternoon.

“We will also demand that the bill not be paid by the public, through Parliament and its budget, but by Julius Malema and the EFF.” The DA regarded the fracas during the removal of the party by Parliament’s protection staff as unacceptable and blamed the EFF for the “violence and destruction”.The party was removed by a group of “Protection Officers” and pushed down the passages until they were deposited outside. Supporters of the EFF ran down from the public gallery and attempted to help prevent the eviction.Holding on to door frames and trying to counter the weight of protection officers pushing them down the corridors, shoes, papers and spectacles flew into the air during the melee. A glass door was cracked and a fire extinguisher was discharged.Steenhuisen said the EFF’s conduct demonstrated “that they are prepared to use violence to get their way and clearly are not a party that can be trusted by South Africans to take our country forward again”.

However, the DA would continue to hold President Jacob Zuma accountable, Steenhuisen said.

News24