Newly re-elected EFF president Julius Malema declared on Sunday that the EFF was ready to co-govern with the ANC should it fall out with its GNU partner, the DA.
Malema was delivering the closing remarks to the party’s third national people’s assembly (NPA) at the Nasrec Expo Centre, south of Johannesburg on Sunday.
Malema told the more than 2,000 delegates to plenary that the EFF was ready and willing to govern with the ANC.
EFF willing to join ANC in government
According to him, the GNU with the DA was unsustainable and bound to collapse any day, at which point the EFF will be waiting in the wings.
“Do no rush, my comrades, we are waiting but we are going to enter this thing of government,” said Malema to approving applause.
“When they start fighting with Helen Zille (DA chairperson), we are going in. It was important that you came organised this way so that we show them that there is a leftist progressive alternative to Helen Zille and that alternative is the EFF. “
MKP, EFF cosy relationship practically over
Malema took a veiled swipe at the MKP saying the EFF was “not going into government to save the ANC, but we are going to government to serve our people”.
The MKP has controversially stated on several occasions, through its head Jacob Zuma, that it intends to save the ANC.
Malema also stopped short of confirming that the cosy relationship between the EFF and MKP was over. He said if they join the national government, it will not be on condition that the MKP is also invited as a package deal.
If ANC chose MKP as governing partner, he charged, it will be EFF business “because they were all criminals anyway”.
Malema says his party has enough government experience to contribute
The EFF has enough governing experienced to play a meaningful role in national government, he said.
“The ANC will come back to its sense and when they do, we will be waiting in the wings. If they are going to call those criminals of Mkhonto (MKP) and work with them, it is their business we will go in and do our own thing but we want nothing to do with Mkhonto, if the ANC wants them it is their business because anyway they were friends together – criminals,” said Malema.
“We are not going into a coalition with the ANC on condition that there’s MKP, we are not interested in that. We are ready to govern and give the people of South Africa a desired government that will look after black people.
“Let them make the mistake and put us in that government, there is no white person who can undermine a department led by the EFF. That government will be a liberated zone like we are doing in Ekurhuleni, in Johannesburg, Tshwane, eThekwini and Nelson Mandela Bay. All departments in those municipalities led by the EFF are liberated zones where people get services in practical terms.”
Malema said if the EFF joins national government now, that will enable the party to consolidate that power in the 2026 local government elections when it plans to increase its electoral support.
