'Fighters, be ready' - Malema gets ready to go to war with Pravin Gordhan
EFF leader Julius Malema on Tuesday declared that the political party decided to fight Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan.
"Our attack on Pravin Gordhan is an attack on white monopoly capital (WMC) because Pravin is the dog of WMC.
"We must host the dog until the owner comes out, and when the owner comes out we will deal with him," Malema told a large group of people picketing outside the Tiso Blackstar venue hosting the commission of inquiry into state capture.
Malema urged party members to be prepared for the fight.
"Fighters, be ready because Pravin is going to fight dirty. There might even be casualties," he said.
Meanwhile, inside the building, Gordhan spent was giving testimony for the second day.
Why Tiso Blackstar?
In a scathing attack of Gordhan and his "relationship" with the media, Malema questioned why the commission he fought for was being housed in a Tiso Blackstar building.
"I fought for this commission. I never imagined it to be housed here.
"How are we going to get the truth when a commission is sitting in a building that is owned by people in cahoots with enablers of state capture?" he asked.
Malema further questioned Gordhan's conduct while appearing before the commission on Monday.
"Pravin is so arrogant, he thinks he is untouchable. You should have watched Pravin in this inquiry yesterday. He was talking as if he was in his own kitchen. Why?" Malema asked.
Pravin must be subjected to the same questions
Seemingly referring to questions raised about the EFF's links to VBS Mutual Bank, following a damning report, Malema said the party would no longer take questions regarding relatives unless the media subjected Gordhan to the same questions. In the report, the younger brother of the party's deputy president Floyd Shivambu was listed as one of the people who allegedly received funds from the bank.
"Pravin has a daughter that has more than 10 companies that are all doing business with government with tenders amounting to R80m. She is now closing bank accounts and resigning since we asked questions.
"Why is Pravin not being asked questions?" Malema asked.
Malema says the attack on white monopoly capital was not personal but rather about justice.
"Let's attack fighters and occupy every space in society, guard the revolution," he told the masses.
Will the EFF attend the commission?
The EFF leader did not rule out the possibility of attending the commission of inquiry, stating that if it did occur it would be at their discretion.
"We will decide when to go, nobody controls the diary of the EFF.
"We want them to come in and lie one by one. Then when we come in, we will reveal all their lies," he said to rousing applause.
