EFF will vote with DA, says Malema
Leftist leader says his party’s priority is to unseat the ANC
EFF LEADER Julius Malema yesterday made an about-turn regarding pulling out of the voting bloc with the DA.
More than a week ago, Malema threatened to pull out of its voting arrangement with the party in municipalities if it didn’t fire Western Cape Premier Helen Zille for her tweets supporting colonialism.
But yesterday he changed his tune.
The DA removed Zille from her party positions, but retained her as premier after she apologised unreservedly for the tweets – and for undermining party leader Mmusi Maimane.
Speaking at a Youth Day rally in Boipatong yesterday, Malema said instead of pulling out of their municipal voting bloc with the DA, they would first try to remove the ANC from power.
Malema said: “We will never vote with the ANC. We are in this mess because of the ANC. If you say I must tell EFF people not to vote for the DA, how do I go back to explain to the people of Boipatong that I voted for a party which took electricity from them for two months?”
Malema said the ANC “allowed … white arrogance”.
“The ANC converted itself as the security guard of white capital. We must deal with the security of white capital before we deal with white capital,” he roared to the crowd.
“The problem of Tshwane, Joburg and PE is not a creation of the EFF. We are in this position because of the voters… We are not and will not vote for the ANC. We will continue to vote with the DA, the IFP and any other party opposed to the security of white monopoly capital,” he said.
Malema visited Boipatong on the eve of the 25-year commemoration of the Boipatong massacre. In 1992, the Joe Slovo informal settlement in the township was attacked by armed men affiliated to the IFP. About 41 people were killed.
Thousands of supporters filled the Boipatong Soccer Stadium and many more spilled on to the streets of the township. Malema said he was not desperate to be president of the country, but more interested in building his party, which turned three next month.
“We are building this party from the ground slowly so that when it takes power, it will be for ever,” he said. “I want to build a formation that black people can trust and celebrate for ever. If I was desperate for power, I would have been a mayor in Joburg now. I could have told the DA that they could take Tshwane and I’d be the mayor in Joburg,” he said.
From: DICK JONES E-mail
CONGRATULATIONS to columnist William SaundersonMeyer for last week’s sober assessment of the crisis in the DA fanned by the racists of the ANC.
I live in the retirement town of Howick whose DA-supporting residents came closest of all the KZN municipalities to unseating the ANC incumbents in the last local elections. But the mood here today is one of despondency, a feeling of being slapped in the face with a wet fish, after Mmusi Maimane’s decision to suspend Helen Zille.
The reason? We believe Zille simply wanted it known that not all white people are racists (as alleged by the ANC), that there are thousands of whites who support the advancement of blacks, and whites (more accurately, Europeans) introduced the infrastructural and judicial improvements enjoyed globally.
Racial labels such as “white capitalists,” “settlers” and “colonialists” are used by the ANC to sow discord among its political opponents, thus deflecting the voting public’s attention from the Zupta looters and collapsing state institutions.
ANC tacticians are intent on destroying the DA because they know it is the only party capable of taking over the government. White DA members repudiate the ANC accusation that they are racists comparable to the National Party of Hendrik Verwoerd. Let it be known that we support a truly multiracial party, which was Nelson Mandela’s dream for the new South Africa. And we will not repudiate our ancestry, for we have much to be proud of. Nor are we colonisers or settlers but South Africans who have been here for hundreds of years and want to see this country united and successful.
It was a great relief to learn on Tuesday that the DA hierarchy had managed to reach a compromise, because an exodus of white supporters would have led to the total collapse of the party –and the eventual ruination of our beloved South Africa.
From: RAYMOND NAIDOO E-mail
IT IS becoming patently clear that loyalty, service and track record are not taken into account when members and officials in the DA are spat out like chewing gum at the slightest seeming transgressions. The case of Helen Zille is an example.
There was a time when DA supporters with stretched hands wanted to embrace and glorify Zille, hoping to gain some form of recognition. Where are they now?