Pretoria - EFF leader Julius Malema on Sunday descended on Olievenhoutbosch and Atteridgeville in Pretoria to call on residents to give his party a chance to demonstrate what it could do for the poor.
Malema teamed up with the chairperson of the EFF in Tshwane, Obakeng Ramabodu, to listen to the problems of the people ahead of its manifesto, which would be informed by the difficulties faced by the people who need services to improve their livelihoods.
Malema attracted scores of children, adults and senior citizens who expressed their frustration with ANC ward councillors in their areas and the DA-led administration as they pledged to head to the polls aggressively in favour of the EFF on November 1.
Olievenhoutbosch resident Selina Mothomane told Malema there were tons of residents in wards 77 and 109 who lived without sufficient basic needs like water, electricity and houses for themselves and their children.
She said: "Our people here also need roads because they are tired of breathing dust in all the time. We live in an area where waste is sometimes not collected but we do not even get a notice that there is a strike or some other challenges until it is too late. I believe we have seen governments by other political parties and we believe now it is time we give the EFF a chance."
Hlomani Malaka said the party would receive more support from the people of Pretoria than it did in the previous local government elections because the people in impoverished areas had seen that without the EFF they were alone and nobody was willing to fight for them against the system that favours the rich.
Malema said the EFF was currently challenging a court order obtained by the ANC when they were in government to remove people who occupied Ward 77 RDP houses in Olievenhoutbosch and it would ensure that did not happen and those occupants were allowed to live there peacefully.
He asked the crowd not to waste any opportunity to raise service delivery grievances by complaining about internal frustrations over who must be elected as ward councillors because the party would miss an opportunity to know about their problems but the ambitions of a few who want positions.
“What we want is for the EFF to get into the municipality irrespective of who is the leader. As long as the red berets are there they will fight for the interests of the poor.
“We put people in these houses here in Olievenhoutbosch because we could not have empty houses while our people lived in shacks.
“We thought let’s occupy, fight and maybe we will win, and now we are fighting and we will win,” said Malema.
He said the party was in talks with the government to have land identified in Olievenhoutbosch used to build a police station because the community was too big for a satellite police station.
Pretoria News