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The mystery surrounding the man who turned on Parliament security to defend Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) leader Julius Malema in the National Assembly is yet to be explained.
Parliament has cleared its security staff of any wrongdoing in the violent chaos that a saw an unauthorised man infiltrate and masquerade as Parliament protection staff in the National Assembly when President Jacob Zuma was in the House to answer questions last month.
The institution admits, however, that the unprecedented incident was a “very serious security breach”.
Parliament blames “third parties” and other people behind the various breaches that occurred. No unauthorised people are allowed to enter the chamber when Parliament is in session.
The ANC and the DA have claimed that the bodyguard, or bodyguards, of EFF leader Malema entered the National Assembly chamber on May 17 with the parliamentary protection services officers when they were instructed to remove EFF MPs from the House.
It was the first time in the post-April 1994 Parliament that an unauthorised person entered the chamber. According to Parliament’s own security personnel, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the incident amounted to a serious security breach and was unprecedented. “If that man was an EFF member or Malema’s bodyguard, he and the EFF would be guilty of trespassing, but Parliament’s own security personnel are guilty of a security breach,” said one source.
The source, who works closely with Parliament security, said on days when Parliament had a plenary session, its security people were stationed at a joint operations centre in the National Assembly building, with a view of the entire precinct. “They also have two-way radios … so how did they miss this?”
This week, Parliament would only say it was aware of various breaches of security and that the culprits had been identified.
It would not say who the culprit was or confirm whether the man who entered the chamber was Malema’s bodyguard.
“We are aware of an unauthorised person who entered the chamber on May 17,” said Parliament’s spokesperson, Luzuko Jacobs.
Jacobs said Parliament investigated how a man who was not part of its protection services ended up on the floor of the chamber. They were able to identify the people behind the breaches that occurred. “Our information has identified the culprits and none of these is a parliamentary official.”
He would not say who in the institution did the investigation, only saying Parliament did its own internal investigation.
