Malema tells Zille he ‘doesn’t care’ how she feels about ‘corrupt ANC metros’

An exchange on Twitter on Thursday ended with Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema warning Western Cape premier and former DA leader Helen Zille that her tweet had encouraged him to think about handing the Tshwane and Johannesburg metros back to the ANC too.

The party is bringing a motion of no confidence in Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip.

It started with a Twitter user taking a screenshot of an article in The Citizen that quoted Malema as saying that their plan was to remove Trollip because “we want to teach these white people that we mean business when we say expropriation of land without compensation”.

Geordin Hill-Lewis interpreted this as “naked racism”. Malema had said in parliament that they wanted to fire a “warning shot” at the DA for having opposed the EFF’s motion on changing the constitution to allow expropriation without payment.

Zille then responded to Hill-Lewis by referencing a recently released book by whistle-blower Crispian Olver that details the alleged corruption and maladministration that had taken place in Nelson Mandela Bay under the ANC administration.

She tagged Malema, writing: “I am sure @Julius_S_Malema will have read ‘How to Steal a City’, the terrifying expose of ANC corruption in Nelson Mandela Metro by one of the ANC’s own cadres. Julius would prefer to side with corruption, as long as it is the right colour.”

Malema responded: “We will do it and we don’t care about how you feel about it, we don’t owe you anything. Racists and corrupt are the same WhatsApp group, actually you tweeting about it makes us think about other metros.”

DA Eastern Cape provincial leader Nqaba Bhanga had earlier blasted Malema as a populist who was hellbent on destroying the country.

“We saved this city from the corrupt ANC and already we have made a positive impact by creating jobs at Nelson Mandela. Malema wants to reverse those gains.

“We will never agree with Malema’s policies, we are a liberal democratic party. As the DA leader in this province, I reject their view because they are not going to assist South Africa, but will run the country down. We can’t break South Africa like they did in Zimbabwe,” Bhanga said.