ANC coalition? The pound of flesh EFF will demand from Luthuli House

Julius Malema is ready to talk to the African National Congress (ANC) to form a coalition government…and he will demand that the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) are offered the posts of minister of finance and the Speaker of National Assembly.

The EFF leader was addressing the media at the Electoral Commission’s (IEC) National Results Centre in Midrand earlier on Saturday.

Malema emphasised that land expropriation without compensation will be another one of the party’s non-negotiables in talks with the ruling party.

‘When compromised, the ANC is not arrogant’ – EFF

“If there is any party that we can work with and work properly with, we want to work with the ANC. Because when compromised, the ANC is not arrogant,” Malema said.

At the same time, the EFF would be willing to negotiate with Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party to establish a coalition government in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Mpumalanga where MK had performed well, including wrestling KZN from the ANC.

“We have achieved our mission in our life-time and that mission was to bring the ANC below 40%,” he said.

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EFF and MK are ‘relatives’

 He said there was nothing wrong in the EFF dealing with the ANC at national level and with MK at provincial level, because EFF and MK were “relatives”.

“We are not going to call them. We do not call anyone. They will call us if they want us and if they want us, we are here we are not going to disappear,” he said.

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Floyd Shivambu for finance minister

Malema also announced that the party would forward the name of EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu for the minister of finance. This because he was the most qualified for the ministry compared to all current and previous finance ministers.

“Floyd is going to be our minister of finance if they agree. He is the most qualified in all respects,” he said.

Malema gave an assurance that if the EFF succeeded in its negotiations with the ANC, it would strife to govern well.

“Where we govern, we are going to govern properly,” he said.

‘Ramaphosa is the president’

The EFF seemed to have abandoned its condition that Ramaphosa must be removed before the party engaged with the ANC in the coalition talks.

Observers believe this demand would have caused the talks to break down between the two sides.

“Ramaphosa is the president. It’s not our problem. If you did not want Ramaphosa, why did you not vote him out? Ramaphosa is not our preferred cup of tea, but he is not an EFF president. He is the ANC president and there is nothing we can do,” Malema said.

EFF talking to DA

The EFF was talking to everybody, including the Democratic Alliance (DA), but Malema said they knew already that negotiating with the DA would be a futile exercise.

“We are talking to everybody, even the DA, but we know we cannot find each other”.

In an apparent reference to ActionSA, Rise Mzansi and others he claimed were funded by the Oppenheimers, Malema lashed out at parties that were established to “finish the EFF”.

“They not going to finish us. We are going to be a problem for another five years.”