EFF leader Julius Malema held a press briefing in Sandton following the party’s local government elections manifesto launch and anniversary celebration in Thohoyandou last weekend.
Beaming with confidence and in high spirit as the November 4 municipal polls elections campaign season moves into high gear, Malema was in his usual element of tackling everything concerning his name that is in the public domain.
Madlanga commission; Khan’t comment on Johnson
What most expected, his take on developments at the Madlanga commission was not spared.
The firebrand somersaulted on his controversial likening of disgraced former Idac boss Adv Andrea Johnson to anti-apartheid stalwart Winnie Madikizela Mandela.
He now says his comments on Johnson were solely based on information at his disposal at the time Johnson appeared before Parliament’s ad-hoc committee probing the same shenanigans as Madlanga commission.
Malema told EFF supporters that he takes a dim view of the Madlanga commission’s continued attempts to link him to cabals within the criminal justice system, chiefly Crime Intelligence head of counterintelligence Maj-Gen Feroz Khan.
“The EFF calls on all South Africans to resist the urge to succumb to juvenile and politically motivated insinuations drawn from the work of the commission, which are not rooted in any evidence or fact. Despite all attempts to cast doubt over the organisation and its leadership, there has been no evidence that ties the EFF to any wrongdoing, and this is a fact we remain proud of,” said Malema during the three-hour long media briefing at the Raddison Blu Hotel.
“We encourage the commission and its evidence leaders to rely on evidence drawn from verifiable and credible process of the law and legal institutions.
“Tabloid journalism and speculation by media outlets who have proven vendettas do not constitute evidence, and the use of news articles as evidence by such a credible commission only serves to undermine the credibility of the process and turn the commission itself into a weapon of propaganda.”
Malema said the EFF would emerge unscathed from the Madlanga commission proceedings and boldly challenged the inquiry to invite him to give testimony if they feel he has questions to answer.
McG Podcast and Chill ‘depoliticising youth’
Popular podcaster McGyver “MacG” Mukwevho caught stray bullets when Malema was asked about podcasters slowly moving into the political space, with the likes of Ntsiki Mazwai standing for mayorship in the City of Joburg.
Malema said McG’s Podcast and Chill had long become a political player with a very specific and negative role to play for the benefit of the those that want to keep South African youth ignorant.
“It is a political party that thing. Its role is to depoliticise the youth. That is why he drinks alcohol during presentation, making alcohol fashionable and calling those he calls chillers that when you are chilling, you must drink,” said Malema.
“And then he speaks loosely about everything black and African, so cheaply. And then when we attend to him, he says ‘they want to cancel me’.
“He thinks he is special; he thinks wearing flipflops is something special. He attacks every black person. If you are a thinker, why would you follow something like that?”
Where is Dr Mgcini Tshwaku?
Malema also unveiled EFF mayoral candidates for all municipalities across the country, a deviation from the party’s tradition in previous municipal polls, where no mayoral candidates were announced in advance.
According to the firebrand former ANC Youth League boss, the red berets brigade had selected the best among themselves, especially for metropolitan municipalities and secondary cities.
With the party having surprised many in picking Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng as its mayoral candidate instead of its former MCC for community safety Dr Mgcini Tshwaku, Malema said candidates were not picked by him but in a democratic EFF Plenum at the beginning of this year through a secret ballot.
“When there are names, we can never all agree but a decision has to be taken. So, the structures of the EFF, guided by the principle of democratic centralism, arrived at these decisions (of Dr Mofokeng) after listening to different views,” said Malema.
“At the beginning of the year at the Plenum, we had elections about who must be the mayor for what City, through secret ballot. That is how democratic we are.”
Malema said all selected mayoral candidates of the EFF, if successful, would be expected to be exemplars of clean governance who must never be accused of corruption.
On Floyd Shivambu and mpesu
After a long time not responding to his former deputy Floyd Shivambu’s claims of having been the brains behind everything in the EFF, Malema went for the jugular.
He insisted that if Shivambu is as great an intellectual as he claims, it must be seen with growth that is not forthcoming in his new political home Afrika Mayibuye.
In Malema’s view, Mayibuye had been a dismal failure so far and was simply refusing to take off despite the confidence of its founder – Shivambu.
“If Floyd (Shivambu) is the brains, let that brain work at Mayibuye. If he is viagra like you are saying, let it give erection to Mayibuye like mpesu,” said Malema.
“That thing is refusing to take off; it has totally failed despite him running around all over South Africa.
“In the EFF when we do anything, the brains are brought together and we develop ideas of the EFF. Ideas do not leave because someone says so.”
- EFF leader Julius Malema held a press briefing in Sandton following the party’s local government elections manifesto launch and anniversary celebration in Thohoyandou last weekend.
- Beaming with confidence and in high spirit as the November 4 municipal polls elections campaign season moves into high gear, Malema was in his usual element of tackling everything concerning his name that is in the public domain.
- Madlanga commission; Khan’t comment on Johnson What most expected, his take on developments at the Madlanga commission was not spared.
- The firebrand somersaulted on his controversial likening of disgraced former Idac boss Adv Andrea Johnson to anti-apartheid stalwart Winnie Madikizela Mandela.
- He now says his comments on Johnson were solely based on information at his disposal at the time Johnson appeared before Parliament’s ad-hoc committee probing the same shenanigans as Madlanga commission.
