A protest poster against Atul Gupta.
After EFF leader Julius Malema made an observation suggestive of conspiracy about the location of the state capture commission hearings on Monday, Atul Gupta retweeted it.
Malema has been among the most outspoken critics of the Gupta family and their involvement with the state, while simultaneously regularly speaking out against “white monopoly capital”, which is also the supposed long-time enemy of the Guptas (according to them, at least).
The Tiso Blackstar media group has often found itself in Malema’s cross hairs for supposedly being a “mouthpiece” of white monopoly capital, which the Guptas and others among their supporters, such as Black First Land First, regularly agree with.
So when Malema said that he found it “interesting” that the state capture hearings are being conducted in the same building that houses Tiso Blackstar and its media titles, he not only called it “interesting”, he pinned it to his Twitter profile.
The irony of this was not lost for many people on Twitter. Malema himself responded to journalist Ranjeni Munusamy that there was nothing ironic about it.
He told her: “What’s ironic? Are you looking for me now? Wa nyaka? Please answer truthfully…
“Who are you to judge who’s retweeting me? Are you now the self-appointed retweeting police?”
He wasn’t yet done, and responded to her telling him: “I am a citizen of South Africa with the constitutional right to freedom of expression. I can tweet whatever I like. It’s not policing, it’s an observation. If you have a problem with my tweets, go ahead and block me.”
He said: “Why should I block you, never invited you to follow me? You are not the only one with constitutional rights, we also tweet what we like, and anyone wishing to retweet will do so without your approval, self-appointed retweeting Constable.”
It’s curious that Malema only seems to have picked up on the location of the inquiry recently, since it has been taking place at the new headquarters of the media company from the start. Perhaps the point was only driven home because the EFF decided to protest outside the building in Parktown on Monday in their attempt to have Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan step down.
Gordhan is enemy number one for both the Guptas and the EFF, and he claimed this week that the attacks against him from the red berets is because they have “something to hide”.
EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu launched a scathing attack against Gordhan on Monday outside the commission of inquiry into state capture, where the minister was giving testimony.
Shivambu made several claims, most entirely uncorroborated.
Gordhan was accused, among other things, of funding Jacob Zuma’s re-election campaign at Mangaung, of creating a “rogue unit” at Sars, of owning the media, and of only having been appointed minister as he had dirt on Zuma regarding the “spy tapes”.
The EFF second-in-command’s speech either repeated or added to the list of allegations levelled against Gordhan by Shivambu and the EFF in the past; in a statement, in a bizarre blog post, and at a press conference held to address allegations that the EFF had been involved in the “looting” of VBS Bank.
READ MORE: Malema blames Gordhan, Treasury for VBS ‘witch-hunt’
Gordhan has been accused by the party of being behind the VBS allegations as “revenge” for their supposed role in getting former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene to resign, of being a “Gupta accomplice”, of running a “cabal”, and “operating a parallel state apparatus”.
Gordhan’s spokesperson Adrian Lackay responded that Shivambu must “explain to South Africans, and in particular the people of Limpopo, when money stolen from VBS Mutual Bank will be repaid”.
“It’s time for him to disclose what other sources of income funds his own lifestyle and that of other leadership figures in the EFF.”
Lackay called on Shivambu to go through the proper channels and testify before Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s commission if he has evidence of misconduct by the minister.
While Gordhan has not personally addressed the EFF’s attacks yet, he did seem to talk about them indirectly while giving testimony at the commision on Monday.
“Those attacking us have something to hide, something to protect, something to distract the public with,” he said.
As for Gupta’s retweet, many on Twitter were quick to pick up on it and find it questionable.
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