Luthuli House makhulu baas Fikile “Vutha” Mbalula has revealed why the ANC was sceptical to have the EFF inside the so-called government of national unity (GNU).
Mbalula spilled the beans that the ANC feared the red berets’ leader, Julius Malema. He believes Malema would be more lethal than the DA in delivering the final blow to bury the former liberation movement.
Mbalula said this on Wednesday during an engagement with the media on the pitfalls of the GNU, which is often held at ransom by the DA, as was the case with the national budget fiasco.
DA was better devil
The firebrand Mbalula suggested that the DA was in fact a better devil despite its many antics to embarrass the ANC.
In his view, bringing the EFF into the GNU would finish the ANC off much quicker. This was because Malema was an unpredictable political foe.
“Do you think Malema would stop his motion of no confidence [in President Cyril Ramaphosa] if we bring him into the GNU? He’s not. He could actually be the worst.
“And he could be the one who can fast-track our demise. He is too dangerous,” said Mbalula.
“Malema comes in many forms. He is not straight. So, when we deal with the DA, we deal with a clear thing. We deal with thugs that we can see are thugs and where they are going.”
EFF, MK Party no better options for GNU
Mbalula said those suggesting that the ANC dump the DA for their toxic relationship were short-sighted. This was because it did not mean those outside the GNU, like the EFF and MKP, would be better, he said.
His reasoning is that just like the DA, EFF and MKP’s sole purpose is to unseat the ANC as political opponents.
Mbalula said the ANC was wary of the EFF’s planned vote of no confidence against Ramaphosa and that anything was possible in it.
After Malema threatened that the ANC’s “arrogance” could actually lead to DA leader John Steenhuisen being head of state and president if Ramaphosa is booted, Mbalula said anything was possible with the EFF involved.
Malema cannot be trusted
“We will await that moment (of vote of no confidence against Ramaphosa) when it happens. If it goes well, we have been promised here that John [Steenhuisen] would become the president,” said Mbalula.
“It is possible, you must not think that is empty rhetoric. They (EFF) did it right from the inception when we lost power in 2016 in the metros. The EFF voted with the DA, but [Malema] today is a great revolutionary. He is a friend of Burkina Faso President (Ibrahim) Traore, a great revolutionary, Julius Malema.
“He says that he doesn’t want the DA and Freedom Front Plus. But when it’s convenient for him, he votes with them. And when I engaged him, and I said, ‘You know, revolution, this ideology, and DA do not make sense’. He said, “Go and talk that nonsense far away from me, we will vote with the DA in doing what to punish the ANC’.”
Mbalula said the ANC had no beef with the EFF. This is while it appears that the EFF has a bone to grind with the former liberation party from which it was born.
DA suffers from “apartheid nostalgia”
“We don’t have a beef with the EFF. We are not at war with them. And we understand them perfectly as an opposition. EFF is not an enemy, it is an opponent of the ANC.”
Mbalula said the ANC would not chase anyone away from the GNU. This includes the DA, which would leave voluntarily if it so wished.
Their permanent skirmishes, he added, were to be expected. He said the DA was a party that suffers from “apartheid nostalgia”. And it is very much against the transformation agenda of the ANC.
