The EFF has become jealous of the Helen Suzman Foundation, which has gone to court to demand that Parliament be forced to consider whether the leader of this group, Mr. Julius Malema, is still ready to be a member of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
The organization complains that Malema is always slandering magistrates and judges and he has just been convicted of a crime.
The spokesperson of the EFF Mr. Sinawo Thambo, blamed politics for the organization’s move to go to the Western Cape court, he wants the Parliament to look more closely at Malema in this committee that questions the magistrates and judges who will be appointed to different courts. He said this is an attempt to silence those who criticize the justice system in this country.
“This organization wants to remove people who criticize the working of the judiciary in this country, which is like oppression. Judges and the judiciary must be criticized if there is a mishandling of things,” he said.
He said there is a time when judges and the judiciary fail to prosecute politicians.
He mentioned the issue of the money received from president Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm, Phala Phala.
“This organization has never said anything about the Phala Phala issue. It is clear that it is chosen among the poor when it comes to the courts,” said Thambo.
The lawyer of this organization, Advocate Jason Whyte, speaking to the SABC, said that there were many occasions where Malema was convicted of crimes in the courts and they saw that he was not ready to be part of this committee in Parliament.
“He has just been convicted of firing a gun even if he has been given the opportunity to appeal the sentence. He is always criticizing the judiciary and criticizing the judges and magistrates who call themselves racist people when he is on such an important committee in the country. Parliament is the one that assigns members of different parties to the JSC, so they must be honest people,” he said.
He said that with this step they are not trying to decide for Parliament who to appoint to the JSC.
“We want all members of the JSC to be monitored for their conduct. We want the Parliament to check whether they are still ready to be part of the committee,” he said.
He said they will pave the way forward when the court’s decision comes out.
“We will respect the court’s decision. We will then consider what the next step is to take.”
Malema went up and down from magistrate Twanet Olivier, who jailed him for five years for firing a gun at the EFF conference in 2018. He accused the magistrate of being racist and accused him of being a member of AfriForum.