ANC playing ‘psychological game’ with rally at Ellis Park – Malema

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema told members of the media at the Rand Show on Tuesday that he saw the ANC and EFF rallies that would take place just before the May 8 national elections, on May 5, as a “South African derby”.

The EFF leader wanted broadcasters such as “eNCA and SABC” to “divide their screens” and show both rallies.

“We are the only party in South Africa that can take the ANC on like that,” Malema claimed.

“On the 5th of May there is a South African Derby, it’s very clear. And we are all going to show our strength, we are all going to show who’s who in town,” he continued.

The EFF leader then made the claim that his party could have filled up FNB stadium but chose Orlando Stadium instead as FNB is “very expensive”. Borrowing the phrase rapper Cassper Nyovest attempted to copyright, Malema said his party would “fill up the Orlando stadium”.

He then advanced the theory that the ANC’s choice of rally venue – the Johannesburg Stadium and Ellis Park Arena – two venues which are part of the same complex, is “a psychological game”.

“They want to say to us they’ve filled up two stadiums but [both] of them combined are the size of FNB. But they want the narrative to be we’ve filled up two stadiums. It’s not two stadiums it’s one stadium,” Malema said.

“If they had such a strength why didn’t they go to FNB and use Ellis Park and Johannesburg as overflow,” he continued.

READ MORE: Malema says EFF willing to partner with ANC in coalitions, but not DA again

Malema then made the bold claim that he believed his party would “have the same size as the ANC, if not more, here in Gauteng” at their final rally.

The EFF leader said the party would be going to Alexandra township, where service delivery protests and an attempt at a “total shutdown” of the area recently took place, on Workers Day (May 1).

He repeated the DA and Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba’s assertion that the protests were orchestrated by the ANC.

“We are not going to join [an] artificial ANC protest,” Malema said.

He said his party would be going to Alexandra “not to listen to protesters, not to receive a memorandum, [but] to do our work in Alex because Alex is our constituency”.

“The EFF is very strong in Alexandra,” he claimed.

“We are going to campaign and to highlight the plight of the people of Alexandra who are living in a state of permanent crisis.”

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