We will have EFF mayor in Tshwane after elections - Malema
7 March 2019
EFF leader Julius Malema has suggested the DA could be in for rough ride following the May national elections, and says Ekurhuleni deserves a new leader.
Malema made the comments to journalists after a breakfast he held for the elderly in Ekurhuleni on Wednesday as part of his birthday celebrations.
"After the elections, we are going into government. We will be MMCs in Joburg; we are going to be mayor in Tshwane," said Malema.
The EFF is in an informal relationship with the DA in the cities of Johannesburg and Tshwane and it is through Malema's party that the second largest political party in South Africa was able to take control of the capital city from the ANC in the 2016 local government elections.
"We will go into a coalition with anyone willing to speak to that arrangement. We cannot have the DA having two municipalities, yet they have not won an election," Malema said.
While most of his interaction with reporters focused on threats made against journalist, analyst and radio host Karima Brown, after Malema posted a screenshot of a WhatsApp message she posted to an EFF media group - showing her cellphone number - he also hit out at Ekurhuleni Mayor Mzwandile Masina and his government.
"This corruption that these people are talking about, we know it requires leadership, because there is no leadership here," said Malema.
'We don’t think that guy deserves to be a mayor'
Earlier, elderly members of the community in Ekurhuleni complained about the quality of life in the metro, with Malema joining in and accusing the ANC of only giving jobs to those who supported their party or slept with the city's councillors.
Malema said the EFF had long called for the removal of Masina as the mayor of the only metro governed by the ANC in Gauteng.
"In Ekurhuleni, we have always tried to remove the mayor and if the opportunity does present itself we will remove him, because we don't think that guy deserves to be a mayor here," he said.
This position comes as the ANC in Ekurhuleni struggles to see eye to eye with its coalition partners about the metro's COO, Lesiba Mojapelo.
Just last week, the ANC defeated a motion in council to have Mojapelo suspended. This was over findings made against him by the Special investigating Unit over chain supply policies during the city's 2010 World Cup activities.
And while Malema has denied that the EFF was talking to smaller parties to remove Masina, a number of local councillors - including a number from the EFF - believe there is a possibility for all parties finding each other to work against the ANC in Ekurhuleni.
'We deliver services for all'
"We don't want to get into any marriage where we have some form of obligation, we want flexibility like that," said Malema.
The Ekurhuleni mayor, through his spokesperson Phakamile Mbengashe, said the City subscribed to employment equity principles, which seek to promote equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through elimination of unfair discrimination.
"We strongly urge the public to report any cases of unfair or unethical employment practices to the South African Police Service for urgent investigation. The City of Ekurhuleni remains committed to a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and corruption," said Mbengashe.
The DA's Solly Malatsi said Malema knew the right platform to raise any issues regarding his party's relationship with the DA in metros.
"Our focus is to ensure that for, as long as we are in government, we deliver services for all, govern well and fight corruption," said Malatsi.
"Should the EFF choose to no longer prioritise the people that we were elected to serve, they will need to explain that to the voters who rejected the failing ANC at the polls," he said.
