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By Daniel Friedman

Digital news editor


The removal of Zuma ushered in the mascots of white monopoly capital – Malema

The EFF leader says the party always maintained the former president was just a 'by-the-way' and that the 'real fight' - against white capital - was still coming.


Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema told supporters outside the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court, where he appeared on Friday morning, that the party’s opposition to former president Jacob Zuma was never the real “fight”.

The leader of the red berets claimed he and his party had always maintained that the battle against Zuma was just a precursor to the “real thing”.

“We must know that the political landscape has changed in SA,” Malema said.

“The removal of Zuma ushered in mascots of white capital. When we said Zuma was a ‘by-the-way’ and the real thing is still coming, we meant what is happening now. So, the cowards must stand aside, the real fight is here,” he continued.

Malema said that due to the alleged control of “white monopoly capital” over SA, “losing cases to the status-quo is expected”.

“We don’t retreat because we lose cases. Imagine if the struggle against apartheid were to be stopped after losing Solomon Mahlangu’s case. No, we don’t retreat, it’s not about money, it’s about the fight against status-quo,” he said.

The reference to money comes amid reports that the EFF’s legal bills are piling up.

The Citizen has reported that the party is altogether believed to owe nearly R1 million after losing various cases. This includes R500,000 for defaming Trevor Manuel, legal costs the party must pay to Karima Brown following her winning her court case against the party in a judgment that found it had contravened the Electoral Code, and more than R200,000 owed to Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum.

READ MORE: EFF wallows in legal debt of almost R1m

Malema was appearing on Thursday morning over charges that he violated the Riotous Assembly Act for telling his supporters to occupy vacant land.

This stems from an EFF conference in Bloemfontein in 2014, at which Malema was accused of “inciting” his followers to occupy land across the country, which led to the National Prosecuting Authority charging him under the apartheid-era Riotous Assembly Act.

Malema is in the process of attempting to have the act itself declared constitutionally invalid.

The case was postponed on Friday morning until November 8, as Malema’s legal bid to have the law scrapped is still ongoing at the High Court in Pretoria.

“Yesterday Ramaphosa spoke about the passing of the 1913 land act which was passed on the same day of 20 July. The struggle has therefore been that long, and the struggle remains about returning the land to its rightful owners,” Malema said outside court, referring to the president’s Sona on Thursday.

“They have charged us for saying the land must be restored to its rightful owners,” he added.

The EFF leader also brought up the Rothschild family, a common enemy to those who claim “white monopoly capital” is allegedly pulling the strings to control South Africa from behind-the-scenes.

“As an EFF member, you must know that you are an enemy of the Rothschilds. Fighting the system is fighting those who want benefit out of how things are at the moment, these are the Rothschild and white monopoly capital. The establishment exists to oppress black people,” Malema told a large crowd of supporters before his speech concluded and he led the crowd in song.

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