EFF will work with MK, says Malema

The EFF and the uMkhonto WeSizwe (MK) party are willing to work together and could meet for formal talks after the May 29 general election.

“We have no problem with [former] president [Jacob] Zuma [leader of the MK party],” EFF leader Julius Malema said on Thursday while on the campaign trail. He said that Zuma had notified him in December of his intention to support MK before he publicly announced his move away from the governing party.

“We are not far apart from MK when it comes to policies. We speak land, we speak empowerment of our people, we speak the restoration of the economy to the rightful owners,” Malema said.

“We agreed to meet after the elections to see how the two organisations can carry each other forward, because we believe in the unity of purpose.”

The two men have reconciled in recent times after a breakdown in their relationship years ago that led to Malema being expelled from the governing party’s youth league.

The EFF leader was also a vocal critic of Zuma during his nearly decade-long presidency, and had on numerous occasions called for the former president to be held accountable for various corruption scandals that characterised his tenure.

Malema seems to have had a change of heart, and says Zuma is welcome to join the EFF.

“Zuma says he has unfinished business ... we can deduce ... the programme can be radical economic transformation ... which was introduced to solicit votes at the 2017 ANC elective conference,” political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast said.

“They [the EFF] are weighing their options because Malema has also said he is willing to work with the ANC as long as the governing party gives the minister of finance portfolio to the EFF,” he added.

Since its inception in 2013 the EFFs electoral share of the vote has increased steadily and it is now the third-largest party by votes. In 2014 it won 6% of the vote and 11% in 2019. A poll released by market research firm Ipsos in February shows the EFF is poised to surpass the DA as official opposition and the second-biggest party. According to the poll, the EFF vote is estimated to increase to 18.6% in the May 29 elections, while the DA support is estimated to fall to 17.3% from 21.62% in the 2021 municipal polls and 20.77% in the 2019 national election.

The EFF manifesto proposes sweeping changes to the country, and the economy in particular, including land expropriation without compensation, and the nationalisation of mines and banks. It also wants to end private participation in Eskom.

Part of its strategy to gain a greater share of votes includes targeting an unlikely constituency: minority voters.

Malema has previously ruffled feathers regarding his comments about white and Indian communities. The Afrikaner civil rights organisation, AfriForum, took him to the Equality Court for alleged hate speech after he led a chant of the apartheid-era song “Kill the Boer” at the EFF’s birthday celebration in 2023. Malema was acquitted.

“We in the EFF are for everyone coloureds, Blacks and whites,” Malema told the community of Eldorado Park on Thursday, adding that quotas should be abolished to ensure state employees reflect the demographics of the country.