They can kill us in Parliament - Malema
Cape Town – They can kill the EFF in Parliament, but President Jacob Zuma cannot continue being a president, the party's leader Julius Malema said on Sunday.
Malema was addressing hundreds of supporters in Gugulethu in Cape Town, urging them to help elect the EFF to the Cape metro.
He said they had performed miracles in Parliament, turning it upside down, and there was nothing wrong with that.
He questioned how Zuma could still be a president, "when he had been found wanting by the Constitutional Court".
"They can kill us if they want in Parliament, but Zuma is not our president. Repeat it to yourself: 'Zuma is not my president'. Not on our watch," he said.
Malema accused Zuma of being a criminal and a thief.
"He can sue me, but he is a criminal. The number one thief. Your children get jailed for stealing a braai pack because they are hungry, and yet he is still a president."
He said Zuma was a "mess" way before Nkandla, and they should have seen it.
He accused the president of destroying nearly every arm of government, with the exception of the judiciary.
"The DA could not make Zuma pay back the money, and we did. Put us in the Cape metro and you will see what we can do," he said.
He said DA leader Mmusi Maimane was only there for a salary.
"Oh shame man uMaimane. He is not the leader of the DA. It is still being led by Helen Zille."
Malema pledged to not disappoint his voters.
Don’t vote with emotions
He urged people not to vote with emotions.
"You can't say you are voting for [former president Nelson] Mandela. He is no more. Be honest with yourself. You are voting for Zuma, and not 'khongolose'," he said. Khongolose is a Zulu word for congress, a reference to the ANC.
Malema said Zuma was nothing like Mandela.
"Look at that head. They are nothing alike," he said.
He called for young people to be introspective and start asking difficult questions to their parties.
We don't need social grants, we want land
Black South Africans did not need social grants, but their land back, Malema also said on Sunday.
In a hall packed with mostly young supporters clad in EFF regalia, which was for sale at the venue, Malema said black South Africans did not need grants.
"We just need our land back."
He referred to the social grants as a bribe.
He said if they [the government] then insisted on not giving back the land, they should double the grants.
Malema said once people had land, they would then be able to provide for their families, without relying on government aid.
"We can work for our children. We don't want social grants, we are rich in land, mines."
Stop voting for t-shirts
Malema urged South Africans to stop voting for t-shirts and food parcels.
This was after supporters shouted that they wanted t-shirts, shortly before he started his address.
"I don’t buy votes. We are here to feed your soul. Don't vote for me for material gain, don't choose me for what you can get."
He said they had been voting for "yellow t-shirts" since 1994, and had nothing to show for it.
"Stop voting for T-shirts and food parcels, but when they do come, take them. It is your money after all."
But they should not use them as an excuse to vote for certain parties, he said.
Burning of schools ‘barbaric’
Malema condemned the burning of schools, clinics and community halls as barbaric, warning that such behaviour was grounds for instant expulsion from the party.
Addressing the community meeting Malema said those who burned down buildings including schools were misdirecting their anger.
"Never, ever burn down schools, clinics and community halls. Take ownership of them. If you have a problem with the councillor, go to them and fight with them.
"You know where the ANC offices are, where the DA is, where the EFF is situated, fight with them. Leave property alone," he said.
He called on the hundreds of supporters gathered to take ownership of these properties, and stand in front of them when others wanted to burn them down.
"You are burning money that you don't have. These are your taxes. These buildings don't belong to Zuma. He will go. They don't belong to the ANC councillor. He will go and the buildings will remain," Malema said to cheers.
He called on all EFF supporters to stand and fight for the buildings.
"Tell them, 'don’t burn my school'," he said.
Malema said he did not, however, have a problem with the barricading of roads during protests, as that was how people could get the attention of leaders.
He reminded them that they were fighting to get elected, and they would then have to rebuild those burnt down buildings.
He said burning down schools and clinics was grounds for immediate expulsion from the EFF.
Malema spoke for two hours, turning on the charm and asking for votes as well as rapping the youth over the knuckles for the "failures of the current government"."
"You have brought this on yourself," he told them, referring to the Zuma administration.
One can see, feel and touch oppression in Cape Town
Malema labelled Cape Town so "untransformed" that one could see, feel and touch oppression.
The EFF leader told the meeting that Cape Town was a city of two nations, where black people were oppressed, while white people continued to flourish.
"Coloured, black, you are the same. You are oppressed here. White people don't have porta toilets, and yet you do. All of South Africa is controlled through Stellenbosch," he said.
The issue of land was on the top on Malema's agenda in Gugulethu.
He said the black people did not own property, and those who did, ran the chance of it being taken away should they miss paying for rates.
Malema said this was the first place they were visiting since they launched the party's manifesto in Orlando Stadium.
"This is the only city that represents and still remains a colony. It is not transformed. We want to transform this place and we cannot do so if we are not part of the municipality," he said.
He said if the party could not win over Cape Town and ultimately the Western Cape, they could forget about black people getting back their land and reclaiming the economy.
"We want to transform this city so that it can be enjoyed by both black and white," he said.
He accused the Western Cape government of constantly evicting people from land, especially in winter.
"They always evict our people from their houses on occupied land. They remove them because they don't love them."
Malema said people occupied land because they wanted a place to call home, and it was not out of excitement.
He said a government that took away people's houses for not paying rates was worse than apartheid.
"Apartheid gave you that house, and then here comes democracy and takes it away," he said.
Rich must share the wealth
Malema said it was time for the rich to share their wealth with the poor.
Education
It was time for them to pay for having denied black people education.
"Because they knew you are smarter than them, so they oppressed you," he said.
He said those who had more money should not be too worried about paying R200 more to subsidise the poor.
"Saying sorry for benefiting from apartheid is not enough. Do more."
He said property gave people dignity, and promised his party would give voters the tools to work their land, once they had property.
"You are nothing without property, that's why we are hated, because we are calling for the redistribution of land."
He said prioritising the rich for service delivery, building bicycle lanes, repaving good roads and extending the Gautrain was "coward leadership".
Campaigning for votes, Malema promised to "liberate" Cape Town from the DA, which he said was run by white people in the background.
He said there should not be a township without tarred roads, water and a crèche.
Malema also said that black children went to school too late in the townships, and needed to learn to love school from an early age.
