Malema calls Ramaphosa ‘Stratcom’

In a tweet posted while President Cyril Ramaphosa was announcing government’s plan to spend R50 billion to stimulate the economy, EFF leader Julius Malema merely said: “STRATCOM on our screens now, yeses”.

He was referencing the apartheid-era organisation Stratcom, a group within the apartheid government that was tasked to create and carry out disinformation campaigns, including propaganda, fake news and smear campaigns against those fighting against apartheid.

It particularly focused on discrediting Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, to whom Malema was close for years before her death earlier this year.

Malema has often accused Ramaphosa of working with “white monopoly capital” and in effect being an agent of white post-apartheid interests, along with Minister Pravin Gordhan.

On Thursday, speaking outside the High Court in Pretoria, Malema accused Ramaphosa of using reports about “plots” against him to create sympathy.

He was referring to a Sunday Times report that suggested earlier this month that a meeting at a Durban hotel between ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, Zuma, former North West premier Supra Mahumapelo and the ANC Women’s League secretary-general Meokgo Motuba was evidence of “plotting” against Ramaphosa as part of a fightback effort by Zuma and his supporters in the ANC.

Malema said: “There is no plot against Ramaphosa. That’s what all the ANC presidents do. They claim there is a plot so that they can misuse state resources. I mean, who can threaten Ramaphosa? Ramaphosa is even so scared of Zuma that he is even willing to pay for his legal costs.”

He questioned the report as evidence of “white-owned media” being in cahoots with Ramaphosa and that the report did not make sense.

“We cannot allow the white-owned media to tell us who can meet who. Why would they meet at a hotel to discuss a plot when Zuma has a bunker in Nkandla?”

He alleged that the report was smoke and mirrors that he said he could relate to personally. He went on to allege that the president could attempt to use such reports to “abuse” state resources, such as state intelligence, to fight his enemies.

“I was accused of plotting with Bheki Cele, so I know how this plot thing works. Ramaphosa is paranoid and colluding with Pravin [Gordhan] to abuse state resources. They want us to see Ramaphosa as a victim but he is not.”

Malema went on to allege that “Indian journalists” such as Qaanitah Hunter, who had written the report, were working hand in glove with Gordhan to further his and Ramaphosa’s agenda.

“They use state institutions to settle scores. They use state institutions to intimidate and silent their opponents. Ramaphosa must know that if he wants to use the same dirty tactics of Zuma, then he will never have peace in that parliament,” Malema was quoted as saying by the EFF’s official Twitter account.

“An injustice will never prevail over justice. A war is coming; this country is run by Pravin and Pravin is run by the Stellenbosch mafias. Those people are more dangerous are Zuma. And they control senior Indian journalists and senior white journalists.”

Not everyone was impressed with Malema’s tweet, though, with some followers accusing him of double standards and flip-flopping. One person even compared him to Black First Land First leader Andile Mngxitama.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.