DA urges parliament to probe Julius Malema's 'incitement to violence' post

EFF leader Julius Malema and party MP Nazier Paulsen's tweets about the violence in Senekal, in the Free State, may come back to haunt them.

DA MP Natasha Mazzone on Thursday said the party will report Malema and Paulsen to parliament’s ethics committee “over recent social media posts which appear to incite violence”.

Mazzone said a tweet by Malema calling on EFF “ground forces” to attend the Senekal magistrate's court next week to “defend” state property and democracy, and another by Paulsen with a picture of a machine gun, were blatant attempts by the EFF leadership to incite further violence.

The tweets followed Tuesday's violent protests in Senekal, where a police vehicle was set on fire and court property was damaged during the court appearance of two men accused of murdering 21-year-old farm manager Brendin Horner.

TimesLIVE reported that the suspects were arrested after bloodstained clothes and shoes were taken for forensic testing. The trial was postponed to October 16 for a formal bail application.

Malema tweeted a video of the protests.

“Since the government of Cyril Ramaphosa is scared to act decisively, we are on our own. Next appearance, all ground forces and peace-loving South Africans will be in attendance, in defence of our democracy and property. Magwala a chechele morago (move over cowards)!" he captioned the video.

Paulsen posted a picture with a machine gun and a caption which read “get ready”.

Mazzone said Malema and Paulsen's tweets were “deplorable”.

“This type of behaviour is deplorable, especially coming from MPs who have a responsibility to uphold the rule of law and the principles which underpin our constitution,” she said.

She said any person who incites violence and encourages the destruction of property should be apprehended and condemned.

“We cannot allow anyone who stirs up violence among our people to go unchallenged. The DA urges the ethics committee to investigate both Malema and Paulsen’s tweets and conduct. For a party that has thousands of followers on social media, such conduct is highly irresponsible.”

At the time of writing, Malema, Paulsen and the EFF had not responded to Mazzone's statement.

TimesLIVE

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