The Citizen (Gauteng)

Whites can go to hell – Malema

‘WE’LL UNSEAT TROLLIP’: MALEMA SHREDS OPPOSITION PACT AT RALLY

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EFF leader on aggressive election drive targets coalition partner.

Radical opposition leader Julius Malema yesterday launched his campaign to be elected president in 2019 by aggressive­ly distancing his party from the Democratic Alliance.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader used a speech at a packed arena in Johannesbu­rg to confirm that he would seek to unseat the mayor of Port Elizabeth, whose administra­tion his party had propped up since the 2016 elections.

The mayor of the south coast city, Athol Trollip, is a member of the Democratic Alliance. The DA has governed Port Elizabeth, as well as Johannesbu­rg and Pretoria, with the support of Malema’s EFF.

But since the resignatio­n last month of former president Jacob Zuma, long the target of Malema’s ire, the EFF has switched its attentions to the main opposition DA, accusing it of being a racist party that promotes the interests of whites.

“All white people who are voting DA, who are angry with what we are going to do in PE ... all of you can go to hell, we don’t care about you. We don’t care about white feelings,” he said to loud applause and cheering.

“We don’t hate white people, we just love black people.”

Malema was speaking at the Standard Bank Arena in Johannesbu­rg yesterday at the launch of the party’s election registrati­on campaign.

Malema has sought to rebuild ties with the ruling ANC since President Cyril Ramaphosa succeeded Zuma last month. “Ramaphosa must do the right thing. We don’t care about him being a billionair­e, we want him to do the right thing,” said Malema.

Malema founded the EFF in 2013, when he was expelled from the ANC along with a number of allies. The party now has the third-largest number of MPs in the National Assembly.

In his speech, Malema welcomed the ANC’s recent resolution to seek to expedite the process of redistribu­ting land to “rightful owners”, which is widely understood to mean transferri­ng land owned by whites to economical­ly disadvanta­ged blacks.

“We want to give land to our people, it is going to happen, it will happen in our lifetime, whether they like it or not. The land will be returned,” he said.

“We are not going to listen to any Britain, we are not going to listen to [the] European Parliament, we are not going to listen to [the] UN – we are going to listen to the people of South Africa.”

Malema was referring to a letter sent on Tuesday by right-wing British Ukip MEP Janice Atkinson to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, calling on London to “step in”.

Malema also announced a voter registrati­on drive for the EFF. –

We don’t care about white feelings.

 ?? Picture: Michel Bega ?? RADICAL. EFF leader Julius Malema says land redistribu­tion ‘is going to happen, it will happen in our lifetime, whether they like it or not. The land will be returned’.
Picture: Michel Bega RADICAL. EFF leader Julius Malema says land redistribu­tion ‘is going to happen, it will happen in our lifetime, whether they like it or not. The land will be returned’.

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