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By Vhahangwele Nemakonde

Digital Deputy News Editor


Malema: SACP must protect Mapaila, the only man Zuma is worried about

The EFF leader says the president is not at all happy with Mapaila, further warning that 'anything is possible'.


EFF leader Julius Malema has advised the South African Communist Party (SACP) to increase security detail for its second deputy general-secretary, Solly Mapaila, because “anything is possible”.

Malema issued the warning following the ANC NEC meeting over the weekend in which some called for President Jacob Zuma to step down, though the majority still voted against the motion.

The EFF leader said though some “fool” had been saying the president was the problem, it was not the case. According to Malema, the problem was the ANC leaders who kept voting for Zuma to remain president.

The SACP general-secretary has, however, been publicly criticising the president, calling for him to step down following several corruption accusations in the ANC and the Cabinet reshuffle in March.

This has made the president unhappy, said Malema, further warning the SACP to beef up his security detail to avoid any complications.

“WARNING: The SACP should strengthen security detail of Solly Mapaila, the old man is not happy at all with him and anything is possible,” he said.

The security detail should, however, not include anyone from the police or the SAPS VIP protection unit, as it is “highly compromised”.

“Solly Mapaila is the only one the old man is worried about because the rest he managed to manipulate them, and they are scared like little kids.”

Last month, the SACP said there was an abuse of state events to carry out assassination plots to pursue factional agendas.

This after a gunman aimed a gun at Mapaila as he was ascending to the stage to deliver the party’s message at the commemoration of the 24th anniversary of the assassination of Chris Hani, former SACP general-secretary, who was murdered in April 1993.

“The gunman, who was oblivious that there was a video recording capturing his action, was among the mob of a few hooligans who were premeditatedly coordinated to boo Mapaila and silence the voice of the Communist Party.

“The gunman aborted his mission after what seemed to be an alert to him that he was exposed. In addition, Mapaila had an umbrella because of a heavy rainstorm. This caused a distraction when he ascended the stage, where he shortly announced that he could no longer deliver the SACP message because of the storm, and quickly exited the podium.”

The attempted assassination came after a string of murders of SACP members in Inchanga, KwaZulu-Natal.

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