The EFF stood firm yesterday on its criticism of KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlahla Mkhwanazi amid a pushback against red berets leader Julius Malema’s fresh verbal attack on the top cop.
Addressing his supporters in Johannesburg on Saturday, Malema had a go at Mkhwanazi accusing him of unfairly targeting him.
‘We’re no ball boys’
“We are not ball boys or ball girls of Mkhwanazi. We stand with the truth,” Malema had told the crowd at Saturday’s rally.
Malema and his fellow leaders went onto defensive mode when his attack drew flak as critics branded him a flip-flopper who heaped praise on Mkhwanazi when it suited him.
‘No blank cheque’
Central command team member Sinawo Thambo came out guns blazing, insisting that Mkhwanazi’s impressive record does not render him beyond reproach.
“No one in this country must have a blank cheque and South Africans must never be blackmailed into silence by people who think law enforcement is like supporting Kaizer Chiefs through thick and thin,” Thambo said in a lengthy statement posted on the X social media platform.
Ndlozi’s clapback
Former EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi weighed in defending Mkhwanazi. “From all directions, the establishment is mobilising us against Lt-Gen Mkhwanazi. All this in an attempt to neutralise the momentum against top SAPS generals & politicians who work with organised crime. These people have turned SAPS into their own private security. We must refuse! These people are fighting the good fight – a good cause. If they lose, ours will become mafia state!
But Thambo was having none of it, cautioning against blindly hero-worshiping people as if they are incapable of making mistakes.
“No one in this country must have a blank cheque and South Africans must never be blackmailed into silence by people who think law enforcement is like supporting Kaizer Chiefs through thick and thin,” Thambo wrote in his X post.
“This is law enforcement of a country, and a functionary of that is making sweeping unsubstantiated statements about politicians when he does not like what they have to say about him, selectively.”
Mkhwanazi is currently hot property after blowing the whistle against high-ranking police officials and politicians, accusing them of aiding criminal syndicates, involving themselves in investigations and obstructing justice.
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