I will try expose Malema’s bank statements if EFF sue me – analyst

While the EFF has threatened to sue political analyst and author Prince Mashele for R1 million, saying he defamed both the party and its leader Julius Malema, he will not back down, even saying he welcomed the opportunity to prove “how corrupt these fellows are”.

In an interview on SABC in the wake of the VBS Bank scandal, Mashele accused the EFF of being a rogue party started to allow Malema, Floyd Shivambu, and other EFF members to get away with corruption.

READ MORE: EFF allegedly received R1.3m in VBS loot directly – report

The scandal saw Shivambu’s brother Brian named in a report as having “gratuitously” received R16 million from VBS Bank. Later, a story in The Daily Maverick alleged that Shivambu himself and the EFF had received money from Brian, and a later story in the Mail & Guardian linked a cousin of Malema’s to the scandal.

According to Mashele, who co-authored the book The Fall of the ANC: What Next?, the ANC served as “a university of corruption” for the EFF leadership, who emerged as its “graduate”.

READ MORE: Malema’s cousin linked to VBS Bank scandal

His analysis led to a lawyer’s letter from Malema and the party, threatening to sue him for R1 million unless he publicly apologises, but Mashele said there was “absolutely no way” he would back down.

The analyst told 702 he will not “askies to the EFF”.

He called the letter confusing and said he had responded asking for clarity. He also noted that his job was to express his opinions on SA politics and that he found it “bizarre” that the party and its leaders would attempt to sue him for his analysis.

Prince Mashele has received a lawyer's letter from @EFFparliament @Julius_S_Malema threatening a R1 million defamation lawsuit for his political analysis about them. See the legal papers below.

Prince joins me. EFF made no one available. Listen now. @Radio702 @CapeTalk pic.twitter.com/08ZQDBPy8a

— Eusebius McKaiser (@Eusebius) November 6, 2018

“I’m looking forward to this thing going to court,” Mashele told 702, adding that if it did, he would “make an application to get the bank statements of Julius Malema, of [Malema’s engineering company] On Point, and the entire EFF. Then the public will know how corrupt these fellows are”.

He wants to try and expose “these bank statements in public so we can see the depth of the corruption”.

He also made light of the amount of money the EFF had threatened to sue him for.

“I don’t have R1 million. I didn’t get anything from VBS, so if I were to be pressed hard I’d have to run to Brian Shivambu for help,” he joked.

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)

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