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EFF leader and MP Julius Malema

Parliament – EFF leader and MP Julius Malema says the state is responsible for the violence meted out to foreigners. “The state, being the elder for the whole of society, becomes responsible for all the violence meted against our foreign nationals,” he said in Parliament yesterday after being given the podium for a few minutes.

“It was through the State that our people were told that resolution to differences should be through violence. It was under your leadership that when you disagreed with people at Marikana, you killed them because you never believed in peaceful resolution of differences.”

He said that when the EFF had disagreed with the ruling party in Parliament last year, it had also applied violence.

He took President Jacob Zuma’s son Edward to task for his recent comments about foreigners.

“Your own son continues to say these people must be killed. You stand up here and say nothing,” Malema said.

“Your son is such a typical example of a family member you can’t whip into line.”

He also criticised the president for not asking King Goodwill Zwelithini to clarify his remarks about foreigners, after it was apparently misinterpreted by the media.

Malema said the Cubans had taught him that body language spoke volumes, and it was clear that Zuma’s body language while condemning xenophobia yesterday also spoke volumes.

Malema was told he was going over his time, but continued to speak.

He ended by saying: “Let’s not kill foreigners. Africa we’re one”.

Meanwhile, Speaker Baleka Mbete threatened to throw Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema out for interrupting a special questions session in the National Assembly yesterday.

Malema had demanded that the session start with the party’s question to President Zuma, about when he was going to pay back the money on his Nkandla homestead.

The party did not have an opportunity to ask the question at a session on August 21 because of interruptions.

After a series of interruptions by Malema, Mbete asked him to take his seat. “I’m going to have to throw you out of the house,” she warned.

Malema and his party members were furious. – AFP