An injured delegate is taken away after a violent scuffle erupted on day two of the party's elective conference at Nasrec, it appears that delegates were in a queue for dinner when a security guard apparently sprayed pepper spray on the red berets. Picture: Itumeleng English/African News Agency (ANA) An injured delegate is taken away after a violent scuffle erupted on day two of the party's elective conference at Nasrec, it appears that delegates were in a queue for dinner when a security guard apparently sprayed pepper spray on the red berets. Picture: Itumeleng English/African News Agency (ANA)
Johannesburg - EFF leader Julius Malema has rejected calls by some of the delegates for the disbandment of the party’s paramilitary outfit, the Defender of the Revolution as they accused it of violence and harassment of members.
The calls for the disbandment of the DOR come after violent scuffles that took place on Saturday evening in which some delegates were hospitalised after being pepper sprayed by the DOR.
Malema apologised on Sunday for the violence, adding that the DOR leader, known as “The General”, had been fired from the party.
Malema however rejected calls from delegates for the DOR to be disbanded due to its violent behaviour against EFF members.
“You must never be excited. Don’t be excited. You just stand here and say you don’t want DOR, but you are the product of DOR. You come from disruptive conferences that were protected by DOR and you come here and you get excited. For us to be here, those people of the DOR had to put their lives at risk and that is how you thank them? You come here and tell us you don’t want them,” Malema said.
EFF delegate Justice Ndabambi, from the North West, said it was not enough to fire “The General” and that the DOR had be dissolved and for marshals to be used instead of the paramilitary outfit.
“Regarding the incident of yesterday, it cannot be that it is only The General who is going. The whole unit of DOR, it is a proposal that it must go because all of them behave like that. They harass us all the time. We must go back to using marshals because ever since we called people DOR they have been harassing us,” Ndabambi said.
Malema said the DOR had to be trained to have skills in dealing with legitimate delegates and not be dissolved.
“But when it comes to rascals and any agent provocateur, they must deal with it decisively without thinking twice in protection of the red flag,” Malema said.