EFF president Julius Malema says party agents who lack counting skills “like Jacob Zuma” should come nowhere near the ballot counting process during Wednesday’s election.
Malema said if a presiding officer shows signs of trying to do some shenanigans, vote counting must be disrupted until senior voting officers intervene.
“We know that among us there are those, like Jacob Zuma, who cannot count. For party agents, we need people who are sharp with calculations so you can stop trouble from afar,” Malema told the party’s Tshela Thupa rally in Polokwane yesterday.
“Without numeracy skills, you cannot be a party agent. You have to know numbers. It is bad out there, these people steal, and if you cannot count, they will con you,” he said.
Malema also sent out words of warning to his party members.
“You must report honestly, as a party agent cannot leave a voting station before counting is
concluded. A party agent must not sit at the door when they are counting.
“You must see each and every ballot they are counting. And if the presiding officer says you must go sit at the door and not observe the counting, you must stop that counting and disrupt that counting until the seniors are called to intervene,” he said.
“Don’t be afraid of the presiding officer, take them head-on and defend the ballot of the EFF,” Malema said.
Addressing the packed 46 000 seater stadium named after his political mentor, late ANC Youth League president Peter Mokaba, Malema, switched to Xitsonga when he promised the people of Giyani water and a new university. The last time the region had a varsity was during the apartheid homeland administration era with the University of Gazankulu.
“It is high time that the people of South Africa are liberated from the shackle of a corrupt government. It cannot be business as usual when our people live in squalor conditions and abject poverty,” he said. He took a swipe at ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa over the Phala Phala case in which millions of rands stashed in a sofa on his property were stolen.
“When we take government, we are going to open the Phala Phala case. We suspect that there are still more dollars stashed under mattresses on the farm. [Cyril] must account, and if he thinks his corrupt friends will protect him forever, he better think again,” Malema said.
He promised that an EFF government would increase the old age grant to R4 000 and child support grant to R1 000. “The R370 social relief of distress grant will not be abolished. There will be a graduate grant because we cannot pay people with matric equally with those with degrees,” Malema said.
Speaking on the contentious issue of opening up the country’s borders to all Africans which has raised the ire of many, Malema changed his tune. “We are not going to open the borders immediately. The government of the EFF will ensure that every immigrant is documented to make South Africa accessible, in order to align it with the values and principle of Pan-Africanism. Africa will eventually be borderless when we have one currency, one military and one leader.”
The rally was preceded by a bike parade, pantsula dance performances and music from various artists, including by the party’s MP, Ringo.
