‘Madiba never hid money under his mattress,’ Malema tells elderly in Soweto

EFF leader Julius Malema has called on Soweto elderly residents to judge the ANC based on what it has become, not what it was during the Nelson Mandela era.

On Sunday, the party pulled out all the stops to campaign for the upcoming by-elections in Ward 24 in Soweto.

Most of its senior leaders, including Julius Malema, were at the campaign, trying to woo voters in Ward 24.

The party is also part of the current coalition running the City of Johannesburg.

Blind loyalty to the ANC

Malema said he was aware that the elderly generations in the townships are loyal to the ANC because of Nelson Mandela’s legacy.

However, he told them to allow Mandela to “rest in peace” because he had played his part in the liberation of black people.

Mandela, former ANC leader and president of South Africa, passed away in December 2013.

Malema said the ANC should be judged for what it has become and not for what it achieved in 1994.

“I know that you grew up saying we will always be loyal to Mandela. He went to prison and came back, and you even chose him to become your president.

“Even when you go to vote, you say that you are voting for Mandela, but you saw him being buried in Qunu. There is no Mandela like Cyril Ramaphosa, Madiba has never hidden money under his mattress,” he said.

Malema on ‘sex for jobs’

Malema did his best to convince community members in Ward 24 to vote for the Red Berets.

He said the EFF is determined to ensure that young people in the community get jobs at the nearby factories and in the City of Johannesburg.

He accused ANC councillors of corruption, claiming it was a key cause of the community’s high unemployment rate.

“We do not want this ANC policy of sleeping with people for jobs. This thing of bending over for work will come to an end.

“When the EFF is in charge, people will get hired with their IDs, with their CVs and with their qualifications. We do not care who’s relative you are, and we do not even care what language you speak, if you are qualified you should be given a job that is the position of an EFF councillor,” he said.

Service delivery challenges

Malema said he is aware of the challenges in Ward 24, including issues such as the lack of schools in the community of Elias Motsoaledi.

“How can we be a ward, but there is no high school? We want a high school in this neighbourhood, and we will fight that there is a primary school here as well.

“We want radical change in the City of Johannesburg, and it starts here in Ward 24,” he said.

Malema on Musk and Trump

Malema took a swipe at US president Donald Trump and influential billionaire Elon Musk for tarnishing his name internationally.

He also blamed them for the United Kingdom’s decision to deny him a visa. He was meant to attend a conference at Cambridge University.

“I am proud of being in Soweto, and I am not ashamed that I was banned in London, it gave me a day to spend time with my people, where I am well received.

“They did not give me a VISA because I cannot be bought by colonialists and imperialists. It is Elon Musk and Donald Trump who want to criminalise me for speaking truth to power.”

Can the EFF regain lost ground?

Political analyst from the Nelson Mandela University (NMU) Professor Ntsikelelo Breakfast says the EFF has to prove that it is still a strong leftist force even without the presence of its former leaders such as Floyd Shivambu and Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.

Breakfast told The Citizen on Monday that the party is trying to regain lost ground since their poor performance in the last general elections.

“We must remember that the EFF has been dealt a very big blow with the exodus of prominent leaders. Since last year, at their conference in December, Malema has been trying to create the impression that all is not lost, even though they have been dealt a big blow.

 “They still want to say the party is still relevant and the real vanguard of the working class and that the party still embeds itself in poor communities,” he said.

‘By-elections are important’

Breakfast said the current by-elections are important since they set the tone for the upcoming local government elections.

“These are very important, and they are building towards the local government elections,” he said.

Breakfast said unlike the EFF, the uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party is in a better position to grow.

“The interesting thing is that the MK party has nothing to lose and everything to gain. Because they have done very well for themselves. If you check the line up of political parties, they are number 2.

“For a party that has just entered the political space, that is a huge achievement. The EFF is the one that has everything to lose because for a long time they have been at number 3, but they have been dealt with in the last elections because they dropped to number 4,” he said.

Breakfast said it is unclear if the EFF will suffer the same fate as it did in the national elections when it contests in the municipal elections.

“The EFF is trying to bounce back but remember what is said, MK party has nothing to lose. It is the EFF that has to frame the narrative that even though Floyd and Ndlozi left them, it did not affect them,” he said.

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