‘Sies, I won’t do it’, says Malema after ‘order’ to take back Alexandra ‘stolen’ R1.6bn claims

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has responded to a report in The Sowetan indicating that a lawyer’s letter from African National Congress (ANC) activist Mike Maile has ordered him to retract claims that he’d made about the Alexandra renewal project at a rally on Worker’s Day this past Wednesday.

Malema said in his address that Maile as well as Gauteng Premier David Makhura and ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile need to explain what happened to the R1.6 billion allocated by government for the Alexandra Renewal Project.

This inspired a lawyer’s letter from Maile demanding the retraction of Malema’s statements,  stating that there is “no truth or basis, either in fact and/or in law, entitling you to attribute the aspersions relating to the alleged ‘stolen’ money [if any] to him”.

Responding to The Sowetan’s tweet sharing their story, Malema made it clear that he will not back down.

“Mxm sies, I won’t do it,” he tweeted.

The EFF took Workers’ Day as an opportunity to flex its muscles in Alexandra township as tens of thousands of residents painted the Sankopano Stadium red in an area where the Democratic Alliance (DA) and ANC have been jostling for power in recent months.

He said the ANC needed to account for allegedly stealing millions of rands that were meant for the R1.7 billion Alex Rejuvenation Project, which was aimed at changing infrastructure, the economy and the social environment of the township.

“If you want to know what the ANC has done, come to Alex. They’ve done nothing. That’s why you’ll find nothing in Alex,” Malema said.

READ MORE: PICS: Malema flexes EFF’s muscles in Alexandra

Alexandra underwent a “total shutdown” recently as residents protested what they see as a lack of service delivery as well as the mushrooming of informal settlements in the area.

Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba accused the ANC of having “orchestrated” the shutdown, with Malema and the EFF apparently agreeing with him.

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman. Background reporting, Gcina Ntsaluba)

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