Mama, tell us what to do with UDF cabal, the ANCWL that sold you out – Malema

EFF leader Julius Malema took a swipe at some of the ANC leaders for having sold out struggle icon and stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, and lambasted the ANC Women’s league for having rejected her as a criminal who could not lead it.

Addressing funeral attendees at Orlando Stadium in Soweto, Malema told ANC leaders it was funny that her ANC and UDF “sellouts” unashamedly attended the funeral and were crying the loudest for her now that she was dead.

According to Malema, in the 1980s the UDF called a press conference to distance itself from Madikizela-Mandela.

“Mama, the UDF cabal that rejected you is here, they called a press conference to dissociate themselves from you. But you were never a member of the UDF, you were the only one who pronounced as the ANC,” Malema said.

The ANCWL did not escape Malema’s sharp tongue. He said some in the league refused to be led by Madikizela-Mandela and rejected her because they regarded her as a “criminal”.

Similarly, the ANC also prevented the struggle stalwart from speaking at the funeral of late former ANC Youth League president and party NEC member Peter Mokaba, although she was the president of the ANCWL and the league was on the funeral programme that day.

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He said the EFF would wait for a signal from Madikizela-Mandela to tell them what they should do about those who rejected and sold her out.

On Marikana, he mentioned that the widows of the 2012 Marikana massacre were still crying for help, while those responsible for their husbands’ deaths were alive and present at the funeral. He said they must all account for what happened at Marikana.

Thirty-four mineworkers were killed when police opened fire on strikers at Lonmin Platinum Mine in North West on August 16, 2012. Although the strikers were armed mostly with sticks and spears, the police fired live machine gun ammunition at them at close range and at those who were running away.

The relatives of the dead miners were still waiting for their compensation following a probe by the Farlam Commission into the massacre.

“Mama, the widows of Marikana are still in tears. What must we tell them, Mama?” Malema said.

The young leader urged the Soweto people to never forget Madikizela-Mandela.

“We should all be happy that her name would be written in the eternal book of life,” Malema said.

He reserved a special message for Winnie’s children, Zenani and Zindzi, saying as long as he lived, they would never be treated as if they had leprosy.

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He alluded to the fact that their mother was ill-treated by the apartheid authorities and that the children themselves suffered under the same system.

“The EFF leadership is here because they proudly associate with you,” Malema said.

– ericn@citizen.co.za