‘Not even the IFP can stop me’: Malema on no-go areas in KwaZulu-Natal

EFF leader Julius Malema says his party will campaign in KwaZulu-Natal despite that province being described as a tough political terrain.

He was speaking in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday, where he addressed his party’s ground forces ahead of the local government elections this year.

“There should never be a place in KZN where there is no EFF. The EFF must exist everywhere in the backyard, if not the yard of President Zuma. We have to find his children who will become EFF members,” he said.

Campaigning in KZN

He said he will not be told by any politician or activist that his party will not campaign in KZN.

“There is no one that will stop me here, not even the IFP can stop me… I can never be intimidated by small boys and small girls. If they want to know who I am, they must ask Donald Trump,” he said.

Malema said he wants to ensure that the EFF becomes an influential party in KZN politics.

“The EFF is not going anywhere. It is going to stay here in KZN, whether they like it or not,” he said.

Malema said the EFF is a party for the poor and those that have been excluded.

“As long as there are unemployed youth, as long as petrol attendants are paid less money, as long as domestic workers are still being harassed, as long as the farm workers do not have their rights, the EFF will always be there to make sure the rights of those people are protected,” he said.

Malema told his supporters in KZN that they should not be afraid of parties like the IFP, which has a long history in many parts of the province.

“If we are scared of IFP, we are going to be intimidated, and our votes are going to be stolen. If we are scared of the ANC and the MK, then let’s forget our votes will be stolen, but with your ground forces who are not scared, we are going to sit with them on the same table,” he said.

He appealed to his ground forces to be brave and campaign for the party.

“You must never be intimidated by another human being. You are all born of a woman no one is better than you. No one has got the monopoly of violence, and therefore no one must shake you, intimidate you with violence. Even if they kill you, they will never kill your ideas,” he said.

The future of South Africa

Malema said the EFF should have its footprint in all parts of the country because it is the hope of all young people.

“The future is young people. The future is those that still have many years on their side to lead development and create a better KZN, not a future that builds N3 for 10 years and we celebrate a construction that has been there for so many years.

“They were supposed to have completed that road a long time ago,” he said.

Malema said under the ANC, most municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal, including Msunduzi Local Municipality, have deteriorated and collapsed.

“If you go through the city centre, it is like you are going through a place that is not occupied by human beings. How can a person call themselves a mayor when your town looks like this?”