Malema on re-election: ‘I am not a dictator. I’m a hard worker, I come from nothing’

Newly reelected EFF leader Julius Malema has ferociously denied claims that he is dictator in the EFF, adding that he is where he is because of hard work.

Malema was responding to questions by journalists that he had surrounded himself with individuals who do not challenge his authority.

“My simple thing of being elected unopposed or being elected unopposed is very simple, I work very hard. I don’t take anything for granted. You give it to me, I will work on it and perfect it. I pay attention to the smallest detail. I know everything that is happening in this conference, even if you want to hate me you will come to accept… I am not a dictator, I am a hard worker. I come from nothing,”

Malema added that it was his detractors and those who couldn’t defeat him in conferences that had perpetuated this narrative.

“When it comes to conferences, I will hit you until you get mad. I’ll hit you until you go home… slaughter a cow thinking your ancestors have forsaken you.”

He argued that he could not have been a dictator in his days in the ANC Youth League, saying that he was working with older more experienced cadres.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, EFF security clashed with party delegates, using pepper spray.

Some female delegates who were seen shouting at security out of frustration told the media that the party’s security detail, the Defenders of the Revolution, had a tendency of using force against women.

Malema firmly denied this, saying that there was no such treatment of women in the EFF, and accused the media of making the claims up.

“We have been sitting here with our women, why would our women go and complain to you and not to us? There is no one who can tell us about our members. They are our members. No one who can abuse women and remain unpunished. Our delegates get the best of the best treatment ever.”

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