Malema proud of Bafana but still wants Jordaan out of Safa

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has praised Bafana Bafana for winning a bronze medal at the Africa Cup of Nations finals, but still believes Safa president Danny Jordaan is not fit to take the national game forward.

Malema was present as the Bafana team arrived back from the Ivory Coast at the OR Tambo international airport on Wednesday, along with thousands of EFF supporters, slightly bizarrely turning the welcoming crowd into a sea of red.

The EFF leader said that they wanted to show support because the team had done so well, and because they knew that otherwise Bafana’s 4am arrival time would not attract a decent swell of support.

‘Like real cows’

“We support performance,” said Malema

“When you don’t perform well, no one is pushed to come and support, but when you perform well, people wake up at 2 or 3am. Some even camp outside the airport to support you. A good performance is always rewarded.

“There was a period when Bafana were like real cows,” added Malema.

“If there was a stationary ball they could miss it. But this time we saw the highest form of football where it is internationally competitive and the standards are so high.”

Safa president Jordaan refused to reveal on Tuesday how much of the prize money from the AFCON the players would be getting, saying it was “up to CAF (the Confederation of African Football)”, and telling journalists they must rather ask the players how much they were getting.

“The fact Danny (Jordaan) must go still remains, but for now we want to celebrate Bafana and not spoil the celebration with politics,” added Malema.

“Our being here and listening to Danny doesn’t make him a good leader. He can’t respond to simply questions asking how much people get. People can be robbed … without us knowing what they are receiving.

“It must be said publicly, so we can judge whether they are receiving the money or not. It is not in public, instead of R1 million they can get R500 000, and when they talk they say it was never R1 million it was always R500 000 but we will never know.”