Johannesburg — The beleaguered Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has launched a scathing attack on former President Jacob Zuma, now leader of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) political party, amid growing tensions between the two political figures.
Malema’s remarks come in the wake of high-profile defections from the EFF to the MK party, including his former deputy and close ally Floyd Shivambu, who has been appointed secretary-general of Zuma’s organisation.
Malema and Zuma, once political adversaries, briefly shared cordial relations when Malema extended empathy to Zuma during his legal battles over defying a Constitutional Court order to testify before the Zondo Commission on State Capture. However, this détente has now dissolved into open hostility.
Speaking at the EFF’s Gauteng Provincial Assembly, Malema dismissed the MK party as a minor political outfit with no future.
“Why would you want to close the EFF for a spaza shop with expired food?” Malema asked. “This movement has a massive infrastructure—offices owned by the organisation, farms, houses built for ordinary people, and students we’ve sent to school. We will not betray the future generation for the dreams of an 82-year-old man who is corrupt to the core.”
Malema doubled down on his criticisms of Zuma, branding him as a symbol of corruption and accusing him of failing to unify South Africans during his presidency.
“Zuma is corrupt. We were not misled about the corruption of Zuma, just as we are not misled about the corruption of Cyril Ramaphosa,” Malema said. “We will fight corruption during Zuma’s era and after Zuma.”
Malema also positioned the EFF as a champion of Pan-Africanism, contrasting it with Zuma’s alleged failures to promote African unity.
“How do you claim you can unite people at 82 years old when you failed to do so for the past 82 years?” Malema asked. “The unity we advocate is not lip service. It’s practical, and that’s why we have EFF branches in Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Namibia, Lesotho, and in the diaspora.”
The EFF’s internal strife follows a poor showing in the May 29 general election, where the party slipped from being South Africa’s third-largest political organisation to fourth. Malema had aimed to elevate the EFF’s standing to the second-largest party but now faces the challenge of rebuilding amid defections and declining voter support.
Despite these challenges, Malema remains defiant, vowing to preserve the EFF’s mission and resist efforts to destabilise the party.
“We are not going anywhere. The EFF is here to stay,” Malema declared.
As the political landscape continues to shift, the EFF’s ability to recover from these setbacks remains to be seen.