"The incident happened after the premier finished his speech. Excited people in the public gallery started singing and the EFF was opposed to that. The situation became chaotic and the security joined in and removed EFF members from the hall. Otherwise the whole event was smooth until the last minute when the premier finished‚" he said.
He said no one was injured. "There was no damage and luckily there was no injuries to anyone. We had to use the private security as the police are not allowed to remove members from the legislature" said Mothapo.
Limpopo provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo confirmed the incident but said no criminal case had been reported.
"We can confirm the incident but no criminal case has been opened at the Polokwane police station‚" he said.
Asked if the EFF had reported the incident to officials in the legislature‚ Buthane said they saw no reason to do that. "It’s only a few month left to the new administration. We felt no reason to report this but truth be told‚ we are not happy the way we were treated."
WATCH | Scuffle breaks out as EFF is thrown out of Limpopo legislature
A scuffle broke out as members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) were thrown out of the hall where the Limpopo legislature was holding its last state of the province address on Friday.
A video clip has emerged showing the EFF members being removed by eight security guards.
The footage was taken immediately after premier Stanley Mathabatha finished his speech at the Jack Botes Hall in Polokwane.
The EFF members were ejected after they questioned the provincial speaker‚ Polly Boshielo‚ as to why she had allowed ANC members to sing struggle songs while the legislature was still in session.
EFF provincial chairperson Jossey Buthane told TimesLIVE that they were not happy with her "ignorance" when they had raised the matter with her.
"We had to ask the speaker to stop the people from singing their struggle songs while the business of the day was still in session. The next thing we were taken out of the hall by security guards in white uniform‚" said Buthane.
He said the EFF members had done nothing wrong. "We were raising our concerns and‚ by law‚ what they were doing was wrong and the speaker is the only person to assist us‚ but she failed. She ignored us."
The video clip shows about four EFF members being manhandled and removed from the hall by eight security men in white shirts. The incident left the gathering in chaos. EFF members kept on asking what they had done wrong. Some members of the legislature and public took photos and videos of the incident.
Provincial legislature spokesperson Meodi Mathapho confirmed the incident and said the EFF members had to be removed after chaos had erupted.
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"The incident happened after the premier finished his speech. Excited people in the public gallery started singing and the EFF was opposed to that. The situation became chaotic and the security joined in and removed EFF members from the hall. Otherwise the whole event was smooth until the last minute when the premier finished‚" he said.
He said no one was injured. "There was no damage and luckily there was no injuries to anyone. We had to use the private security as the police are not allowed to remove members from the legislature" said Mothapo.
Limpopo provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo confirmed the incident but said no criminal case had been reported.
"We can confirm the incident but no criminal case has been opened at the Polokwane police station‚" he said.
Asked if the EFF had reported the incident to officials in the legislature‚ Buthane said they saw no reason to do that. "It’s only a few month left to the new administration. We felt no reason to report this but truth be told‚ we are not happy the way we were treated."
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