[imagesource: Nokuthula Mbatha/ANA]

The EFF aren’t known for subtlety.

Their approach to just about anything that could advance their agenda is to go in fists swinging and damn the consequences.

Unless you’ve been in a cave on a social media cleanse for the past few weeks, you know something about the recent EFF protests outside Clicks stores, in the wake of a terrible advert on the retailer’s site.

Not a good look, but also not necessarily grounds for a petrol bombing from the EFF.

It also isn’t the type of thing that should end with a scuffle with security and gunfire in a mall in Gauteng.

But that’s what went down, and in the midst of it, arrests were made, with EFF MP Kenny Motsamai one of those arrested by police.

Motsamai’s arrest took place outside the Clicks at Evaton near Sedibeng, in Gauteng, on September 8.

A brief history lesson, per Mail & Guardian, tells us that he was first arrested and sentenced to prison in 1989 for the apartheid-era murder of a traffic officer in Rustenburg.

The officer was killed during a bank robbery sanctioned by the Pan African Congress (PAC). The proceeds from the robbery were supposed to assist the PAC in its activities.

He was released on parole in 2017, and then returned to prison for violating the conditions of his parole.

Then, in 2018, he was re-released, following which he was sworn in as an EFF MP.

He is still on parole, and legally speaking, an arrest is a violation thereof.

As it stands, what would be a simple parole violation is a touch more complicated in this case.

Charges against Motsamai, including those pertaining to a confrontation during which the doors to the Clicks store were broken, were dismissed by the Sebokeng magistrate’s court this week.

Technically, Motsamai also shouldn’t qualify for his seat as an MP. According to the Constitution, anyone who has served a prison term longer than 12 months isn’t allowed to serve in Parliament.

But, before the swearing-in ceremony, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng explained why Motsamai qualified. “The particular delegate was convicted in 1989, and the Constitution took effect in 1996 … So this section seems not to extend to or to exclude that delegate.”

Even though his most recent parole violation has been struck from the court roll, his case hasn’t gone away.

“We are aware of the matter, and it is under investigation. A decision will then be taken based on the outcome of the investigation and looking at Motsamai’s parole conditions,” Correctional services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said.

If the decision goes against Motsamai, he could end up back in jail.

Motsamai is part of a long list of EFF MPs who have landed themselves in court, including head honcho Julius Malema and Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, for allegedly assaulting a police officer at Winnie Mandela’s funeral in 2018.

Floyd Shivambu was also in hot water after he was caught on camera choking a journalist. 

EFF secretary-general Marshall Dlamini has faced a charge of assault after he was filmed whacking a police officer at SONA after the 2019 general elections.

[source:m&g]