Zuma must pay back – EFF
ECONOMIC Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema has hit back at President Jacob Zuma, saying the EFF will continue to demand answers from him until he “pays back the money”.
Malema was responding to a question from a Stellenbosch University political science student at the institution yesterday. The venue was packed by students coming to listen to the former ANC Youth League leader.
A student asked Malema if he was satisfied with how Zuma answered his question about the “paying of the money” during Parliament’s question-and-answer session on Wednesday.
“The EFF got Zuma to commit that the minister of police will announce how much needs to be paid,” he said.
The EFF had persuaded the ANC at Parliament’s Programme Committee to agree Zuma would come back to Parliament to answer questions “before the end of April”.
“They wanted November, we said what if we are not there in November, we want it now. So we want that accountability. The public protector said Zuma must pay for nonsecurity upgrade features, which the state paid for…
“Now, Zuma said those are recommendations because he thinks he is interpreting the Western Cape High Court ruling. The (court) said that findings were not enforceable like a court order, however, they are not mere recommendations you can just ignore,” he told the cheering crowd.
A group of students were locked out when the venue reached its capacity before the event started. Malema asked that they be allowed inside before he delivered his lecture.
He said it was an historical fact, and there was no dispute about the land of South Africa being stolen.
“If someone will deny that, they are suffering from denialism. Such people are not welcome in a democratic South Africa because it’s like denying racism. Racism is there, it is institutionalised, we have to accept and develop means to deal with (it),” he said.
A student asked which policies the EFF implemented to ensure its members were cor- ruption-free, as Malema was associated with “tax evasion”.
“I have never had a case of tax evasion. Tax evasion is a criminal activity. I was never charged by police. I am educating you because you are a victim of media junk,” Malema said.
“What I got from Sars was a tax bill, that I am not up-to- date with my tax return, and because of that, they charged me a 60 percent penalty and added 200 percent interest, and those led up to the so-called R16 million.
“We engaged with them for a very long time, and we reached an agreement that I must pay R4m,” Malema said.