EFF leader Julius Malema revealed this week that they were in advanced negotiations to rope in former ANC secretary general Sekgobelo “Ace” Magashule, who was booted out of the ruling party.
Magashule’s crossing over was set be one of the biggest political moves since Malema was expelled from the ANC and went on to form the EFF, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary next month at Soccer City Stadium.
The EFF has apparently wasted no time in pouncing on Magashule, the ANC outcast whose fate seemed sealed in 2021 when he was suspended for trying to suspend ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa.
Magashule was found guilty by the ANC’s National Disciplinary Committee of contravening the party’s constitution and expelled last week as he failed to justify why he should not be.
Speaking to the media this week on their pursuit of Magashule, Malema said that talks were at an advanced stage.
“Electoral politics are politics of numbers. It’s very important that you talk to everyone, so I’m talking to the man. I’m saying the EFF is at an advanced engagement.”
Malema said the details would be announced when the discussions were over, adding that he was also in talks with other “very senior people” whose names he would not reveal until he had concluded his discussions.
“We’re likely to shock a lot of people at the FNB Stadium with the kind and calibre of people who will be in attendance at that rally of the EFF,” Malema said.
The EFF’s recruitment drive last month saw Mzwanele Manyi, the Jacob Zuma Foundation spokesperson, join the red berets in a move that he described as being fuelled by a statement in which DA leader John Steenhuisen described the EFF as the DA’s number one enemy.
Manyi, who had been a member of the African Transformation Movement (ATM), said he joined the EFF because his mission in life was about transformation, empowerment, and dealing with inequality.
ANC secretary general, Fikile Mbalula, appeared unconcerned at Magashule joining the EFF r his supporters leaving with him.
Mbalula said the ANC’s numbers had dropped due to voter despondency amongst the ANC’s support base, not because they had voted for alternative parties.
“People were unhappy about corruption and then we went to the elections and this affected us in terms of numbers and growth, but it did not kill the belief of the people in the African Congress because people do not cross to political parties; if that was the case it would mean that this country would be governed by the opposition,” Mbalula said.
Malema, who was in Durban on Youth Day, addressed thousands of party members and students at the Alpine Stadium at the Durban University of Technology.
He said: “I said we are talking to Ace Magashule. People are making noise here. I could be speaking to (former president Jacob) Zuma as well, because black people must always have a conversation amongst themselves without the interference of the enemy.”
He said they knew who their enemies were and that he would not be told by anyone who to talk to or not talk to.
Malema said Zuma was not a strategic opponent.
“Zuma was engaged in matters that irritated us, but the strategic enemy has always been White Monopoly Capital,” Malema said.
He told the crowd not to complain about issues but to be the solution and become like the youth of 1976.
“The youth of South Africa, like the youth of 1976, wake up, stop sleeping and complaining like you have no solution to your problems. Next year you have a choice between liberating yourself or going to drink alcohol. We don’t have an option. Liberation is the solution in 2024,” Malema said.
Yesterday, Malema was in Tongaat spearheading the #AndriesTatane Clean Up Campaign.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE