EEF’s clever ploy to force ANC pact

There are probably not many people who would accuse Julius Malema of being a man of high principle. He has had more flip-flops than a seaside surf shop. But he has just revealed what many thought about him all along: that he believes dishonesty is the best policy.

Of course, he didn’t say so in so many words when speaking on Youth Day, but he did insist that there were “no permanent enemies in politics”.

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Expedience be thy name … He is in the process of flip-flopping again, taking tea and posing with Jacob Zuma and his daughter Duduzile at Nkandla and throwing open his arms to welcome ousted ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule into the ranks of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), should the former Free State premier choose to see that as his future political home.

He’s also proclaiming loudly that President Cyril Ramaphosa is now in his sights … just as he targeted Zuma before 2017.

Hedging of one’s bets is a clever strategy for an opportunist like Malema because it ensures that whatever happens, he will have a friend somewhere – as long as they are anti-Ramaphosa.

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But, even then, how can you trust the sincerity of his supposed enmity for the president? Maybe that’s part of a ploy to scare Ramaphosa and his faction into agreeing to some sort of pact with him and the EFF in the event the ANC loses its outright majority in next year’s election.

That scenario is infinitely more probable than the ANC agreeing to smoke a coalition peace pipe with the Democratic Alliance (DA) – as has been abundantly demonstrated by the ANC-EFF’s orchestrated shenanigans in municipal councils around the country.

Experts agree that a DA-ANC coalition offers the best prospects for the country. On the other hand, they say, the ANC and EFF share the same political propensities… and that could lead to anarchy.

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