We will go to war with Tuks if we need to - EFF
Johannesburg – The Economic Freedom Fighters in Gauteng said on Tuesday that it was willing to go to war with the University of Pretoria (UP).
The party accused the university of victimising and isolating its EFF Student Command, saying some of their student members have been unfairly suspended and expelled.
"We don’t have patience anymore, nobody has patience... we are not going to accept it. We are ready. If needs be will go to war," provincial leader Mandisa Mashego told reporters in Johannesburg.
"[UP] must decide what they want. We want those suspensions to immediately cease and we want those bouncers to immediately withdraw. If they apply anymore delaying tactics we will mobilise."
UP vice chancellor Professor Cheryl De la Rey told News24 last week that university will adopt a zero tolerance to violence and crime.
“Given what happened, we have taken additional security measures and we have taken time to work with the South African Police Service and we are saying enough is enough,” she said.
“We commit to peaceful engagements but we cannot have disruptions to the academic programme. We cannot have intimidations, we cannot have threats levelled to students, staff and anyone else who want to be part of this.”
Mashego said on Tuesday that the party could mobilise thousands of its members.
"UP must immediately cease the usage of private security or we will open a case against them. We are on the ground. If we need to bring 5000 people by Friday, trust me, I am not making a wild claim, by Friday we will get 5000 at that university.
"They will walk to Tshwane if needs be... If we need 50 000 [members] we can get it," she said.
Mashego was reacting to the reported arrest of five EFF students during violent protest at the institution. The EFF are blaming the private security company employed by UP for the alleged assault of students.
Students at the university had been protesting over its language policy for the past two weeks.
Twenty-seven people were arrested for public violence and they appeared in court last week.
Charges against three of them were dropped, leaving 24 students to stand trial. Their case was postponed to April 7.
The university was closed for a week due to the protests.
DA playing dirty to get our voters
The EFF has been a victim of malicious rumours and a vicious campaign by the DA to steal its voters, Mashego also claimed on Tuesday.
The Gauteng EFF chair said the DA has been on a mission to paint its members as violent to prospective voters. "We know the DA has been spreading very malicious rumours through SMS campaigns, sending not just to students but to prospective voters, basically saying the EFF is a violent organisation and the EFF student command in universities are inciting violence," Mashego said.
Mashego reacted to a statement by the DA on Monday, saying it intending to lay criminal charges against the EFF for allegedly inciting violence on campuses.
DA national spokesperson Refiloe Ntsekhe said the party had not sent out any SMS.
"We would never send out messages like that, it goes against how we operate as a party," she said.
"We always believe we must uphold principles and the rule of law."
Ntsekhe said the DA would not take the law into its own hands.
MP and DA Student Organisation (Daso) leader, Yusuf Cassim, said the EFF had been using "violent and racially divisive language" to communicate with students over the past week.
"The charge relates particularly to a post by an EFF Youth Command leader, Omphile Seleke, on Facebook, which detailed the steps to make a petrol bomb. This post was subsequently retweeted by the EFF Student Command at the University of Pretoria," the DA said.
Mashego said this was part of a DA ploy to cook up stories to win voters. "We are not surprised they are now cooking up stories and what they call evidence to claim the EFF is inciting violence. The violence we keep experiencing is brought on by state and by leadership at universities."
On Tuesday, the DA said due to commitments in Parliament it would only lay criminal charges against the EFF on Wednesday.
This article first appeared on News24 – see here.
