Lawmakers from South Africa’s firebrand Economic Freedom Fighters party have hailed the decision not immediately to proceed with plans to suspend to suspend them from parliament.
They maintain they were acting within the rules of the legislature when they disrupted proceedings last week by calling on President Jacob Zuma to repay public money spent on upgrading his private home Nkandla.
Economic Freedom Fighter MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi says the decision not to suspend them vindicates the noisy action EFF members took in the house last week that led to the speaker Baleka Mbete calling in police to remove them.
Ndlozi maintains he and his EFF colleague will continue robustly to demand answers from the executive about public money unduly spent on Nkandla.
Constitutional experts believe the speaker was out of line calling on police to clear the house and that however disruptive the EFF MPs were, they are protected by South Africa’s basic law.
Mbete maintains she will call in police again if the EFF MPs are disorderly.
She was expected toask parliament at its next sitting today (Tuesday) to suspend the MPs who attend parliamentary session dressed in boiler suits and maids uniforms which they say shows solidarity with the poor.
She has now deferred the matter to parliament’s powers and privileges committee.