EFF files motion to remove Didiza as Speaker over Ramaphosa interdict decision

By Anita Dangazele

• EFF Chief Whip Nontando Nolutshungu filed the removal motion with Deputy Speaker Lotriet on Friday, citing ten grounds including bias and misleading the public.

• ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula defended Didiza on Friday, saying she is preserving neutrality, as the EFF’s motion lands on the Deputy Speaker’s desk.

The Economic Freedom Fighters filed a formal motion on Friday to remove National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza from office, accusing her of siding with President Cyril Ramaphosa before seeking legal advice to justify that decision.

The motion, signed by EFF leader Julius Malema and filed with Deputy Speaker A. Lotriet by EFF Parliamentary Chief Whip Nontando Nolutshungu, lists ten grounds for Didiza’s removal. It was filed in terms of Rule 28 of the Rules of the National Assembly, read together with Section 52(4) of the Constitution, which allows Parliament to remove the Speaker by resolution if a majority of members are present when the vote is taken.

Among the most serious accusations in the motion: that Didiza took a decision of profound constitutional significance before seeking legal advice, and only sought legal opinion afterwards to validate what she had already decided. The motion also accuses her of then obtaining that opinion from a law firm associated with a former ANC Treasurer-General, raising questions about her impartiality.

The motion further accuses Didiza of misleading the public by claiming the Impeachment Committee’s legal opinion justified her decision not to oppose Ramaphosa’s urgent interdict application — when that opinion was obtained for the committee as a separate respondent, not for the Speaker’s office.

Scrolla reported on Thursday that Didiza admitted on The Clement Manyathela Show that one of two legal opinions she received told her to oppose the interdict. She chose not to follow it.

ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula came to her defence on Friday, saying the Speaker stands above the contest.

“The institution of the National Assembly must remain neutral, and the Speaker is properly preserving that neutrality by filing a notice to abide by the decision of the court,” Mbalula said.

The EFF’s motion lands two days after Malema told Wednesday’s Impeachment Committee meeting he was asking lawyers what could be done about Didiza.

The interdict hearing is set for 15 and 16 July 2026.

Pictured above: National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza faces a formal removal motion filed by the EFF on Friday 26 June 2026.

Image source: Parliament of RSA