FW shows SA the finger – Malema
EFF leader says De Klerk does not regret apartheid, not a crime against humanity
MAYIBONGWE MAQHINA
FW DE Klerk gave South Africa the middle finger by not having any regrets over apartheid and that is why EFF leader Julius Malema wanted the former president evicted from Parliament on Sona night.
Speaking to the Press Club of South Africa in Cape Town, Malema said De Klerk recently regarded apartheid as, not a crime against humanity, in an interview with the SABC.
“Our actions yesterday (Thursday) were provoked by him saying apartheid was not a crime against humanity. “To us he does not have regrets. “Now he has his ‘ice boy’ as a president and thinks he can undermine us because he controls Cyril,” he said, explaining why his party marched out of Parliament on Thursday night.
Malema charges that Ramaphosa and De Klerk have a relationship that dates back to the 1970s.
“We are not to allow Cyril’s proximity to them to undermine us.
“He can see that there is no leadership in this country. It’s his boys.”
He questioned why De Klerk had not said those things during the terms of former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma.
“He has no files on them. He has never managed them. None of his forces managed them,” he said.
Hours after Malema’s address the FW de Klerk Foundation issued a statement saying it was ironic the EFF leader launched a vitriolic attack on the former president.
“In a way, an attack by Julius Malema and the EFF is the sincerest form of compliment. We have seen this kind before,” the foundation said.
Turning to the Sona address, Malema said there was nothing new in the President’s utterances.
“We continued to hear his dreams of building a new city, even though today he is the same man selling our independence and our state entities, surrendering all capacity to capital.”
Malema charged that Ramaphosa’s only solution to the collapse of SOES was a misplaced faith in the private sector.
“The state will now allow our municipalities to enter into exploitative contracts with Independent Power Producers, and more of these contracts which have seen Eskom operate at a loss for the benefit of Cyril and Pravin’s friends will be signed.
“A strategic entity that is supposed to drive development is now going to the hands of greedy capitalists, who have no obligation to provide affordable electricity to our people.”
He also said Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan was at the centre of the collapse of the SOES and capture of the country by white-monopoly capital.
He said the removal of Gordhan was the first step in saving the SOES.
“This must be followed by the appointment of a competent board with skills from various sectors that relate to energy, and the scrapping of IPP contracts which are a looting of our coffers.”
Malema told his audience that he was shocked that the media and NGOS were not questioning this because of who funds and controls them.
The EFF head said he questioned the sealing of financial statements for the CR17 campaign and the dropping of charges against those perceived to be members of the so-called rogue unit. He said his party had written to the National Director of Public Prosecution Shamila Batohi asking why the charges had been dropped.
They had also asked the North Gauteng High Court Deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba to unseal the documents related to the CR17 campaign.