EFF statement on utterances by Minister of Police Bheki Cele
24 November 2020
The Economic Freedom Fighters notes the empty and grandstanding utterances made by Minister of Police Bheki Cele, in relation to the address made by the Commander in Chief Julius Malema at a community meeting in Mohokare Municipality, ward 6 in the Free State.
In what can only be described as hypocrisy and a performance of outrage, Bheki Cele and the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) have taken the Commander in Chiefs condemnation of police brutality against protesters out of context, to present an image of a threat to law-enforcement in the country from the EFF. It is a blatant lie and manipulation of the facts.
The EFF has long held a stance against police brutality in South Africa, since it was founded.
This can be traced back to our inception when we stood against the massacre of mineworkers in Marikana, who were shot and killed execution style by a South African Police Service that has an uncontrollable desire for the blood of black people. We stood against SAPS when they were brutalizing student activists who were making a genuine call for free education during the #FeesMustFall era. The Commander in Chief simply reiterated a long-held position that the patience of our people, with a police force that resembles that of the Apartheid State, is wearing thin.