South African opposition leader Julius Malema yesterday said Zimbabweans must fight to reclaim their country from “kleptocrats” in pointed criticism of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.
Malema, who is the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) told SABC News, that Zimbabwe has been hijacked by criminality.
He was speaking on the side-lines of the party’s 10th anniversary celebrations in Johannesburg.
“(Zimbabweans) must never despair, they must continue to fight for their country and reclaim it from kleptocracy and the criminality that has hijacked Zimbabwe,” Malema said.
“We want Zimbabweans to fight to take their country back. We say to Mnangagwa, stop disrupting peace of Zimbabwe.
“Zimbabwe is going to elections.
“Allow the Zimbabweans to make their choice in a democratic manner.”
Meanwhile, Malema and the EFF have pledged to provide tens of buses to ferry Zimbabweans living in South Africa to return home to vote on August 23.
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Malema used his speech at the party’s 10th anniversary celebration to take a swipe at those who had said the party would not survive more than a year.
He said “doomsayers” had written off the party and had even said it would “never achieve 1% of the vote” when it was formed in 2013.
“They said EFF was only passing by. EFF is not going anywhere, EFF is still here, and EFF is still going to be around.
“Whether they like it or not.
“They are witnessing history today,” Malema said to loud cheers from the crowd.
The EFF is the third largest party in the country.
Malema also took a swipe at journalists who he said had also written the party off when it was formed.
“Where are they today, because the EFF is turning 10 years? We cannot hear their voices.”
He claimed that a journalist, on Saturday morning TV, had said that the only party which could fill up the FNB Stadium was the ANC, but that he had phoned the journalist and told them that the EFF was the only party that had the capacity to fill the stadium beyond its capacity.
The FNB Stadium can take 94 000 people, and EFF supporters filled it to capacity.
“Where are they today, because the baby that was born in 2013 is 10 years old today.”—Additional reporting by News24
