/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

ActionSA’s legal teams have met and concluded that the Party will pursue a high court review of the decision of the National Assembly’s Joint Committee on Ethics and Members Interests to exonerate Julius Malema for his remarks encouraging illegal immigration. 

After receiving the decision of the committee, more than a year after the complaint was lodged, ActionSA believes that the finding that Malema’s remarks were “open to different interpretations” lacks any rational basis. 

This followings remarks made by Malema at a EFF press conference on 14 January 2021 in which Malema said:

“So let the borders be open and if the gates are not going to be open for SADC, fellow SADC people please find a creative way this is your home, your families are here. There is no ways anyone is going to close you out here. Lesotho and Free State are one thing, Mpumalanga and Swazi land are one thing, North-West and Botswana are one thing, Limpopo and Zimbabwe are one thing. What is the point, there is no point at all…” 

The link to the remarks can be viewed here.

The decision to pursue a legal review of this matter is grounded in the belief that members of parliament swear oaths of office to uphold the law and defend the Constitution of our country. We cannot accept any member of parliament who abuses their position to advocate for lawlessness in our country. 

The fact that a committee of the National Assembly find these remarks open to interpretation is laughable and we can only plausibly conclude that Malema is being protected by the institutions of parliament. 

This road to review the decision of the committee will take time, but ActionSA is patient in the need to ensure that we can deliver a lesson to members of parliament to take illegal immigration seriously. Our first step will be to obtain the legal representations made by Mr Malema and the minutes of the deliberations of the committee. 

South Africans are finding their voice on the issue of illegal immigration and condemning the failure of our government to manage our borders and to document individuals who enter our country legally. It is a violation of the public trust for a member of parliament to openly encourage and promote illegal immigration. 

If the national assembly of our country will not act, ActionSA will do so without hesitation. 

Issued by ActionSA