Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen in his capacity as a Member of Parliament (MP), announced on Monday that his party will be filing a complaint with Parliament’s ethics committee against his fellow MP, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema.

Over the weekend, during the EFF’s tenth birthday celebrations at the FNB Stadium in Soweto, Malema was heard chanting “Kill the Boer, kill the Farmer”.

Speaking during a live address to the nation, Steenhuisen said a political leader who incited mass murder and an MP who called for the killing of an entire section of society, was not normal.

He also added that “cowardly politicians” who turned a blind eye to the incitement of civil war, were not normal.

“We are further obtaining legal advice on approaching the Public Protector and the courts. But it is also important that we are honest about one thing. For more than a decade, the South African State has utterly failed to use appropriate internal remedies to stop Malema,” Steenhuisen stated.

He said instead of dealing with Malema, senior law enforcement officials drank expensive champagne with him at a fundraiser.

Steenhuisen is looking for support from the global community and political and civil society leaders to publicly denounce Malema and he wants President Cyril Ramaphosa to publicly condemn Malema.

“To the media, I ask that you put pressure on Ramaphosa to come out of hiding for once. If Ramaphosa fails to denounce Malema, it can only mean that he is too cowardly to honour the oath he took to uphold the Constitution and defend all the people of South Africa,” he said.

YEARS-LONG FAILURES

Steenhuisen also announced that the DA was filing charges against Malema and the African National Congress (ANC) government at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council.

“The first element of our UN case will focus on Malema’s repeated incitement of ethnic violence. The second element will charge the ANC national government, before the UN, over its years-long failure to take action against their one time protégé even as brutal farm murders continue to escalate in the wake of Malema’s demagoguery,” the DA leader said.

He explained that the charge would be laid in terms of Malema’s violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.

He added that Malema would also be charged in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“Julius Malema told us exactly who he is. It is time that we believe him. For far too long, people in government, the media, civil society and constitutional institutions refused to acknowledge Malema for the bloodthirsty tyrant and demagogue he really is. These people helped to normalise Malema’s hatred and racism,” he noted.

The DA recently forced the South African government to live up to its international responsibility to comply with warrants issued by the International Criminal Court.

“We will now do the same to force it to act against Malema,” said Steenhuisen.