Malema at Malemulele

ECONOMIC Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has laid the blame for poor service delivery to Malamulele residents firmly before the ANC government’s door.

He also said the only time residents would see the ANC and President Jacob Zuma in the flesh was on their ballot papers during next year’s national elections.

These utterances were made during a gathering in Malamulele on Saturday a week after violent protests in the area left millions of Rands of damage in the area, and also just one day before he was due to address the ANC Youth League (Ancyl) at their 69th anniversary celebrations in Seshego.

Malema encouraged disgruntled residents to turn a blind eye on the ruling party as it did not have their interests at heart.

“When I was the secretary of the ANC Youth League, the ANC PEC was persuaded by us to make the decision that Malamulele must have its own municipality.

However, when we made our submission in this regard, we were told that we were too late because the demarcation board had already closed,” the firebrand leader said.

He alleged that the ruling party was against the idea of a new municipality for the people of Malamulele. He blamed minister in the presidency, Collins Chabane as well as minister of cooperative governance Richard Baloyi for this state of affairs.

Malema told the gathering never to allow “the frustration of underdevelopment to play (make) hatred among African brothers,” adding that “we’re one team, whether you’re Venda, Pedi or Shangaan…we’re all suffering under this government”.

He further said just as in the apartheid government, freedom was being enjoyed by a few white capitalists under the protection of the ANC.

“They say to the white capitalists: these people will never take from you…we will manage them. So this ANC is managing you so that you don’t tamper with the property of the white capitalists,” he said. The majority of black youth was unemployed because the ANC’s policies were not working, and this was why the EFF spoke about different policies, he said.

Chabane failed to respond to any of CV’s numerous requests, both telephonically and by SMS, for comment on the matter.