Hawks ‘instructed to work against me’ – Malema

Leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Julius Malema has made another unsubstantiated accusation against the Hawks.

He alleges that the elite crime-fighting directorate has been “instructed to work something” against him before the August 3 local government elections. He, however, said their “strategy failed again, victory is certain”.

“The Hawks instructed to work on something against me before the elections, same failed strategy again. We are ready for them,victory is certain…,” Malema said on his Twitter account.

Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi dismissed Malema’s allegation by saying the investigation unit was not in the business of politics. He also warned against people who he said resorted to using the name of the Hawks when they could not deal with their political issues. Mulaudzi called on Malema to “address issues [with the Hawks] directly”, making it clear that he was encouraged to approach the Hawks if he had any issues with the institution.

“It’s utter nonsense. If he has issues, he must address them directly. We are not in the business of politics. The Hawks is not a playing ground. We deal with serious issues here,” said Mulaudzi.

This is not the first time Malema has been in trouble with the Hawks this year. In April, the institution investigated Malema for statements he made during an interview with Al Jazeera. This after Malema told Al Jazeera interviewer Jonah Hull that if the ruling ANC continued to respond violently to peaceful protests, “we will run out of patience very soon and we will remove this government through the barrel of a gun”.

Malema has been arrested by the cops before for speeding. He was also charged criminally in relation to a racketeering, fraud and corruption case involving tenders in Limpopo during his time as president of the ANC Youth League. That case involved his Ratanang Family Trust, a company called On Point Engineering and the Limpopo transport department. However, when the case went to trial last year, the judge struck it off the roll, saying that the EFF leader had waited too long for the trial.