National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete is inciting violence against the EFF by describing them as thugs and party leader Julius Malema as a cockroach, it said on Sunday.

“No amount of conspiracy theories, intimidation, usage of violence or threats of assassination will deter us from holding this corrupt ANC government accountable,” Economic Freedom Fighters spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said in a statement.

The Mail&Guardian online quoted Mbete saying on Saturday: “If we don’t work we will continue to have cockroaches like Malema roaming all over the place.”

She was addressing the North West ANC’s eighth provincial congress in her capacity African National Congress chairwoman.
She warned party members that the EFF would cause disruptions in provincial legislatures and claimed the party was conspiring with western backers.

“Those thugs there are going to come to provinces to run a similar campaign, not only in legislatures but also in municipalities.

“You must teach our children not to be misled by those wearing red overalls. Those people are not working with people of this country alone, they are pawns in a bigger scheme of things where some western governments are involved,” she was quoted as saying.

She said the EFF wanted to “collapse Parliament” and force an early election.

“They want to take this country so that they must take over the mines and share them with friends they were seen gallivanting with in Europe.”
Ndlozi said Mbete’s utterances incited violence against the party’s public representatives in provincial legislatures and in the National Assembly.

He said EFF was unapologetic about wanting answers from President Jacob Zuma on when he would repay the money spent on security upgrades to his Nkandla homestead.

“The country cannot afford to have the Speaker of the National Assembly who incites violence against Members of Parliament, both inside and outside Parliament,” Ndlozi said.

Security officers, apparently public order police members, dragged EFF MPs out of the National Assembly on Thursday when they disrupted Zuma’s state-of-the-nation address to demand answers about Nkandla.
The ANC was not immediately available to comment. SAPA