Julius Malema at the EFF's rally at the Sekhukhune Sports ground at Winnie Mandela informal settlement in Tembisa | Picture: Twitter @effsouthafrica
As coalition talks continue ahead of next week’s council meetings, various politicians have used their platforms to share their opinions regarding what they believe the outcome should be. Among those sharing their thoughts was leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, Julius Malema.
Speaking at the Sekhukhune Sports ground at Winnie Mandela informal settlement in Tembisa during the rally, Malema began his address by not only thanking those in attendance but the party’s officials, leadership, “ground forces” and those who voted for the party.
“The work for 2024 starts today. We are here to say to the people of South Africa – thank you for voting for the EFF,” he said.
As he usually does, he addressed a number of headlines about his recent actions or utterances as well as those of their party.
Malema also told those in attendance not to be fooled by popular sentiment on social media, especially because that is not where their party’s mandate comes from.
He vowed that the party would not enter into any coalitions.
He made reference to makgowa (white people) who publicly declared that they would rather partner with everyone else but not the EFF. According to Malema, this is a good thing because that means these “white people” know that “the EFF would never succumb to whiteness.”
The EFF leader also spoke about the ongoing conversation about party funding in light of the release of the party funding report by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
“Before you say the EFF must declare donations, go and look at who is giving donations.”
Malema explained that when you look at the racial make-up of donors, it would soon become clear that the EFF (and their values) would therefore not be getting any donations.
“Donations are given by the Oppenheimers and you say ‘we want to nationalise the mines,’ the mines of South Africa belong to the Oppenheimers. When you say ‘we want to nationalise the mines,’ you have declared a war against the Oppenheimers.”
He accused the prominent family of funding all the liberal political movements in an effort to get them to unite against the EFF’s call for the expropriation of land without compensation.
Malema claimed that the EFF is funded mostly by the small amounts given by their ordinary supporters.
“They can audit the books of all the political parties, including the EFF, they will never find anything wrong because we don’t get money from anyone. We get money from our councillors, our MPLs, our MPs. It’s called a party levy, that’s what finances us.”
He accused the IEC of being a branch of the ANC and tried to call the organisation’s credibility into question.
“So comrades, don’t be scared, there is no one hat is going to find anything wrong at all with the EFF. We must all rest assured that the EFF has complied with the law.”
Malema warned the EFF’s councillors against partaking in corrupt activities and declared that they would face the full might of the party’s disciplinary structures should they be found wanting.
At the time of writing, the event was still taking place.
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