Our way or no way, says EFF leader
“Those who voted against the EFF’s wishes will be dealt with.”
This stern warning came from Julius Malema, leader of the EFF, after the ANC won back the seat in the Modimolle-Mookgophong Municipality during a vote by councilors on Wednesday 12 July. The voting to instate a new mayor after former DA mayor Marlene van Staden passed away in June occurred during a special council meeting.
The DA, FF Plus, and the EFF have been working together in a coalition since the amalgamation of the two towns in 2016, which saw the municipality placed in DA hands. Tables have however turned as the ANC’s mayoral candidate, Sechele Aaron Sebolai, won with 17 votes to the DA candidate, Hercules Louw’s, 11 votes.
The council comprises 14 ANC seats, seven DA seats, four EFF seats, and three FF Plus seats. This means that three councilors of the opposition parties voted with the ANC, despite an agreement not to, Malema said.
As part of the build-up to the EFF’s ten-year birthday celebrations, Malema spoke to editors and senior journalists during The Frank Interview on Friday, July 14 in Soweto.
During the interview, which dealt with questions ranging from the EFF’s participation in the Moonshot Pact and whether amnesty for former president Jacob Zuma will spare the country violence, Malema also voiced his frustrations with councilors who did not cast their votes as the party instructed.
“Yesterday in Modimolle, the EFF issued a directive: Don’t vote with the ANC. Two or three councillors from the opposition voted with the ANC and the ANC wins a mayor. What must I do? If I leave those people, they will do as they wish. They must be disciplined. They must learn to carry the mandate of the organisation. Those councillors are not trustworthy. They went into the council through what is called PR (Party Representative). You carry the mandate of the party. If you are a ward councillor, you can say: In my ward, they are saying … but when you are PR, there is no ward, only the party that tells you what to do. And they have not done it. And I don’t think they should wake up the following day as members of the EFF, they must be suspended with immediate effect so that whoever tries to do that again knows that there is discipline in the EFF,” said Malema.
