NEWS & ANALYSIS

EFF has pronounced on you - Malema warns Gordhan

Party leader says Minister is avoiding the unavoidable

The EFF has pronounced on you’ - Julius Malema warns Pravin Gordhan

27 July 2019

EFF leader Julius Malema said, on the party's sixth birthday, that many thought it would be irrelevant after the departure of the former president after it "humbled him", but it continued growing.

"They said it will die after Jacob Zuma, that it exists because Jacob Zuma is there. Hey, we fought Zuma. He is looking after cattle because of this EFF," he said during his address at KaNyamazane Stadium in Mpumalanga on Saturday.

"[Public Enterprises Minister] Pravin [Gordhan] will go. The same way the EFF said [Athol] Trollip in PE will go; he's gone. The same way we said [former minister] Malusi Gigaba will go; he's gone. The same way we said [former minister] Nhlanhla Nene will go, he's gone.

"So Pravin Gordhan, let us tell you now… you can scream and kick, your door is open. You are avoiding the unavoidable. The powerful have fallen. You are nothing. We are not scared of the cabal. You must ask Zuma, we have humbled him."

This week, Malema said the EFF will head to the Constitutional Court if Gordhan's urgent application over Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane's remedial action against him, in the so-called SA Revenue Service "rogue unit" matter, is approved by the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

Mkhwebane instructed President Cyril Ramaphosa to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Gordhan within 30 days of the release of the report, however the minister wants the remedial action suspended until his judicial review of the report is finalised.

Malema, who at the time said the party had nothing against Gordhan, called for the public enterprises minister to be fired, saying he "doesn't deserve to be a minister" and behaved like "an untouchable politician in South Africa".

During his address on Saturday, Malema warned that the EFF "has pronounced on" Gordhan.

"They said Zuma will go and the EFF will be irrelevant. They said the EFF is obsessed with Zuma. 'What did Zuma do to these people? This is personal between Malema and Zuma.'

"That nonsense they are repeating today. They just replaced it with a name. It's no longer Zuma, it's Pravin. ‘Why are they obsessed with Pravin? This is personal. They are scared of SARS, they are scared of the Hawks’… We are not scared of anything. Nothing can scare us; when we see an injustice, we go after it."

Racists and the corrupt were out to destroy the EFF because it is the "only party in SA that is fighting for a black person", Malema told a sea of supporters.

"We humbled the ANC, Papa. The ANC today, it is well behaved. Who thought you would see the ANC in power with less than 60% in Parliament? Who thought the ANC would be out of power in Johannesburg, in Tshwane, in Nylstroom, in Thabazimbi, in Mogale City, in PE? We never thought the ANC one day will be at 50% in Gauteng. Why? Because they said they were going to rule until Jesus comes.

"Jesus came, visited, left, to give them a warning that if you do not change, I will come back permanently, and you'll be out of power."

News24