EFF leader Julius Malema has slammed recent reports alleging that his fallout with former deputy president Floyd Shivambu was due to his secret meetings with ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa regarding the country’s deputy president position.
Reports over the weekend suggested that Shivambu’s resignation from the party and subsequent move to the MK Party were influenced by these meetings.
Addressing the party’s ground forces forum at Orlando Community Hall, Soweto, on Monday, Malema warned those who have betrayed him and those covertly collaborating with his enemies that there is no place for them in the EFF, urging them to leave.
Malema said he refused to join the Government of National Unity (GNU) in its current form and was upfront about it even to party leaders who wanted him to join the ANC alongside the DA and the Freedom Front Plus.
“I was the first one who said we need to join GNU and declared in public. What I said (was that) I was not going to join GNU with DA and FF Plus.
“I went behind their back to speak to Ramaphosa. The answer is no, they were not offered any positions. We never reached that level to discuss positions. I’m saying that in public and Mbalula must contradict that. I am here to tell you that I have never asked (for a) position from Ramaphosa.
“I said to Cyril we cannot go into a coalition with DA and FF Plus. That is what I told Ramaphosa in a discussion that Veronica Mente must have, Floyd (Shivambu) must get the deputy Speaker position and she got that position,” he said.
On the issue of Shivambu, Malema said that he had been the one advocating for him to become the Minister of Finance from the start. He noted that those now blaming him should be mindful of this support, as he was willing to back Shivambu throughout the negotiations.
“I’m the one who said Floyd should be Minister of Finance and was prepared to step aside to allow him... You must not listen to doomsayers with agenda to destroy this movement.
Malema came out guns blazing at his members who silently wanted to betray and use the EFF for what he termed as “greener pastures”.
“Leave now so that we can know how many soldiers we have in this struggle to liberate us. You must leave today because nothing is going to change between now and December, nothing is going to change now and the future.
“Leave now. We have no reason to beg anyone. If you want to leave, leave now and leave us alone. Even if we are alone we will always continue to speak truth to power. It’s very painful to count the soldiers you don’t have,” he said.
Political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe said: “The cracks in the EFF have been building between Malema and Shivambu for some years. However, they have been able to quell growing tension. It is now an open war between those who support Malema and those backing Shivambu.”
Like Malema, Seepe said this was a testing time for the EFF and personally for Malema.
“Malema will have to show his leadership skills and move the EFF forward. Internally, the party has a lot to do in terms of repositioning itself as a modern party. This will be a testing time for Malema and the core leadership to pull the party from the brink of collapse,” said Seepe. | Additional reporting by Kamogelo Moichela
The Star