Video by Timothy Bernard
Johannesburg – EFF leader Julius Malema has called on Parliament’s acting secretary Baby Tyawa to step down following the fire that gutted the institution earlier this month.
Addressing the party’s first media conference of the year at its head office in Johannesburg, Malema said the parliamentary precinct was neglected.
”I suspect the rats went to eat the wires and then these wires came into contact and caused a spark. But because they don’t want to take responsibility they go to a homeless man,” he said.
Malema said if that was the case, someone in parliament must take responsibility because what were the rats doing on the institution’s roof, which must be fumigated from time to time.
”There must be rat traps and all manner of things. The inspectors should have picked it up a long time ago. From time to time they must inspect the building for fire compliance,” he added.
Malema defended the man accused of starting the fire, Zandile Christmas Mafe, saying he did nothing.
”Christmas, with all his sophistication, how can he burn the roof? It’s a technical problem that someone must take responsibility (for). Two people, (former National Assembly speaker) Thandi Modise and the current speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and the secretary of parliament (Tyawa),” he explained.
Malema continued: “Anyway, if these two politicians can’t take responsibility, the secretary of parliament must take responsibility because parliament belongs to the secretary of parliament. She must fall on her sword, I don’t know why she is still secretary of parliament”.
He said Tyawa should have resigned by now.
”She should have put all systems in place to make sure that no one ever gets into that parliament. Security should have been improved after an intruder slept in Thabo Mbeki’s office and drank his alcohol,” Malema said, referring to the incident in which an intruder spent time in the former president’s official residence in Cape Town and helped himself to his alcohol.
”An honourable, innocent member of staff of parliament should have resigned. She (Tyawa) can’t resign, she is a deployee. Cadre deployment. She is waiting for them as a mascot for them to tell her she must resign. She must resign,” he said.
Political Bureau