Former EFF member Mngxitama believes Malema’s party is shrinking
The BLF leader counted the support at the birthday party at Curries Fountain on Saturday and concluded rough times are ahead for the EFF.
Black First Land First (BLF) members led by Andile Mngxitama and Zanele Lwaini protest outside MiWay Insurance headquarters. It turned out this was utterly pointless. Picture: Gallo Images
Controversial founder of Black First Land First (BLF) Andile Mngxitama has been on a crusade over the weekend to make people see his apparent point that the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) are not as popular as they once were.
The basis for this is his view that the EFF was allegedly only able to attract 7 000 people to its fourth birthday bash in KwaZulu-Natal.
However, the province is a stronghold for both the IFP and the ANC, and the EFF said they went to President Jacob Zuma’s home province to make further inroads into the region.
To Mngxitama, however, the fact that the party was not able to draw the same enormous crowds as it normally does in other places such as North West, Limpopo and Gauteng, means the party has been “exposed as a diminished outfit from its robust beginnings”.
He shared an article from his Black Opinion website that claimed: “In the early years of the EFF, it’s [sic] rallies were massive affairs regularly clocking over sixty thousand supporters. Things have changed drastically – the fourth anniversary was attended by about seven thousand people. This is a monumental climb down in numbers.”
He claimed that the “pro white monopoly capital media” has been trying to help the party and that most media houses were wary of reporting on the 7 000 attendance figure.
He speculated that the numbers must be a cause of concern for Malema, who “crisscrossed KwaZulu-Natal on a helicopter as he tried to drum support for the birthday rally – he even tried to fool the people with buying the Zulu King cattle as a gift. The people of KZN did not buy Malema’s story.”
He claimed many people had needed to be bused in from elsewhere. He said the media was “manufacturing the lie” that the EFF is “growing in leaps and bounds”.
Mngxitama was expelled from the EFF in 2015. He lost his job as an MP and has subsequently admitted to being “broke”. The #GuptaLeaks emails have, however, suggested that he asked for funding from the Gupta family, though he denies receiving any money from them.
https://twitter.com/Mngxitama/status/891548586810515456
For more news your way
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
