EFF leader Julius Malema speaks to the M&G about the 2019 elections
The Economic Freedom Fighters announced party leader, Julius Malema, will be sworn in as a member of the Pan-African Parliament on Monday.
Malema is set to be inducted into the legislative body of the African Union (AU) alongside four other South African MPs: National Council of Provinces chairperson Thandi Modise, National Assembly house chairperson for internal arrangements Thoko Didiza, Mandlesizwe Zwelivelile Mandela and Santosh Vinita Kalyan.
The five will replace Hunadi Mateme‚ Thandi Memela‚ Charles Nqakula and Floyd Shivambu. Kalyan will serve another two-year term, parliament said in a statement.
The swearing-in ceremony will take place at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, where the seat of the the Pan-African Parliament was moved from its previous location in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Pan-African Parliament has 255 representatives that are elected by the legislatures of 55 AU states, rather than being directly elected in their own capacity.
Each member state sends a delegation of five parliamentarians to the Parliament, at least one of whom must be a woman and the composition of the delegation should reflect the political diversity of the member state’s legislature.
The oath the parliamentarians have to take when they are sworn in requires that they uphold and promote “the principles of good governance, democracy, human rights, international humanitarian law, peace, stability and all objectives of the Pan-African Parliament”.
The Pan-African Parliament itself will elect a new president and four vice presidents after AU commission president Moussa Faki Mahamat has opened the new session.