06 August 2026


The African National Congress (ANC) Parliamentary Caucus strongly condemns the conduct of the Leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Mr Julius Malema, during yesterday’s virtual proceedings of the Section 89 Impeachment Committee.

At a time when Parliament is discharging one of its most important constitutional responsibilities, South Africans expect Members of Parliament to conduct themselves with discipline, maturity and respect for the institution. Instead, Mr Malema resorted to personal attacks and disruptive behaviour that sought to derail the Committee from fulfilling its constitutional mandate.

Mr Malema launched an unwarranted verbal attack on ANC Member of Parliament Cde Cameron Dugmore after Cde Dugmore rightly called on him to comply with Parliament’s Rules and established parliamentary decorum by addressing Members in the appropriate parliamentary manner.

Instead of respecting the Rules of the House, Mr Malema responded with hostility, personal insults and disruptive conduct that undermined the dignity of Parliament. He responded with an angry outburst, falsely accusing Cde Dugmore of being a “bloody racist” and a “clown,”  “whose skin” is damaged by the sun.

Such inflammatory and personal insults were entirely unwarranted and fell far short of the standards of conduct and parliamentary decorum expected of Members of Parliament.

The facts are clear. Cde Dugmore simply stated that he had participated in the struggle against apartheid when Mr Malema was still a child. At no point did he refer to Mr Malema as a “boy”. Rather than engaging the issue before the Committee, Mr Malema distorted the facts and resorted to inflammatory accusations instead of reasoned debate.

The ANC Parliamentary Caucus rejects the reckless use of allegations of racism as a political shield to avoid accountability or silence opposing views. Such allegations are too serious to be trivialised for political point-scoring.

Parliament must remain a place of principled debate conducted with mutual respect and adherence to its Rules. The ANC Parliamentary Caucus remains committed to defending the integrity of Parliament and calls on all Members to uphold the dignity of the institution and place the interests of South Africa above political spectacle.

ISSUED BY THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS PARLIAMENTARY CAUCUS

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