CAPE TOWN, Wednesday 2 September 2026 — EFF leader Julius Malema has been given until 30 September to apologise in the National Assembly to Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Elias Matojane and the Judicial Service Commission, after Parliament revived a long-running disciplinary matter following the failure of Malema’s court challenge.
Parliament’s Powers and Privileges Committee set the new deadline after National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza referred Malema’s failure to comply with an earlier parliamentary instruction to the committee for possible contempt proceedings.
Committee chairperson Weziwe Tikana-Gxotiwe said Malema had since indicated in correspondence that he would make the required apology and had asked to be given a date on which it could be delivered.
The committee resolved that the apology must be made in the National Assembly no later than 30 September, with Malema required to make the necessary arrangements with the Speaker’s office.
The dispute dates back to Malema’s conduct while serving as a member of the Judicial Service Commission.
Parliament’s Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests found that Malema had breached the parliamentary code over his questioning of Matojane during a JSC interview.
The questioning concerned a previous judgment involving former finance minister Trevor Manuel, the EFF and Malema.
The ethics committee found that Malema had placed himself in a conflict-of-interest position by using the JSC proceedings to raise a matter in which he and his party had an interest.
The National Assembly subsequently adopted a recommendation requiring Malema to apologise.
Implementation of the sanction was delayed while Malema challenged the finding in the Western Cape High Court.
A full bench dismissed his review application with costs, finding no merit in the grounds advanced against the parliamentary decision.
Didiza later instructed Malema to deliver the apology by February 2026.
When that deadline passed without the apology being made, the matter was referred to the Powers and Privileges Committee.
Tikana-Gxotiwe said Malema had been asked to respond to the potential contempt allegation by 25 August.
Malema responded on 11 August, indicating that he intended to apologise to Matojane and the JSC and asking the committee to provide a date for him to do so.
The committee has now chosen 30 September as the final deadline.
Parliament’s rules allow a member who fails or refuses to comply with a rule, order or resolution of the House to face a finding of contempt.
The latest decision does not amount to a new contempt finding against Malema.
Instead, it gives the EFF leader another opportunity to comply with the National Assembly’s existing resolution before the committee considers whether further parliamentary action is necessary.
Malema’s position is politically significant because he is both leader of the EFF and a sitting member of Parliament, while the original dispute arose from his role representing the National Assembly on the JSC.
The deadline also comes during the final phase of campaigning for the 4 November local government elections, in which the EFF is contesting municipalities across the country and has named mayoral candidates for all eight metropolitan municipalities.
Whether the matter proceeds further will now depend principally on Malema’s compliance.
If he delivers the apology by 30 September, the immediate contempt issue could be resolved. Failure to comply could return the matter to Parliament for further consideration under its rules.
