Malema: EFF not concerned about possible MK party threats to elections

Ahead of its Tshela Thupa rally this Saturday, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) president Julius Malema seemingly conceded to a possible defeat in the polls on 29 May election day. 

The EFF leader was speaking to the media on the sidelines of his final campaigning programmes in Seshego on Friday when he said that the EFF would welcome any outcome delivered during the election. 

The party leader added that it had done “everything humanly possible” with limited resources to ensure the EFF had an effective campaign.

“We will accept the willingness of the voice of the people of SA. Whatever the outcome, we will not have a query because we campaigned and no one stopped us, we spoke to our people and no one stopped us,” he said. 

“If the people did not receive the message, it means we still need more time to work on convincing our people with regard to the EFF,” he said.

The party leader added that the EFF had run a very successful campaign saying that he was confident that the EFF’s message had resonated with South Africa. The EFF is aiming to increase its voter share and possibly remove the Democratic Alliance (DA) from becoming the official opposition. 

The party has maintained that it is aiming for one million votes in Gauteng and another million votes in KwaZulu-Natal to secure its targets. 

This goal was threatened by former president Jacob Zuma when he endorsed the umKhonto weSizwe party in December. His popularity in KwaZulu-Natal has threatened the ANC, EFF as well as the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in the province. 

The EFF was hoping to gain enough votes to leverage for positions should the party go into coalitions. The DA has also expressed that it has no interest in going into a coalition with the EFF labelling it enemy number one. 

On Friday, a warning of possible protests was issued by security company Fidelity in KwaZulu-Natal, following a similar notice by banking group FirstRand on Thursday, News24 reported. 

The report added that the KwaZulu-Natal police were working with the South African National Defence Force, crime intelligence and private security companies in a bid to avert possible violence, both on election day and after the 29 May polls.

This comes after Zuma lost an appeal by the Electoral Commission of South Africa which saw the Constitutional Court have him removed from a list of prospective political party leaders vying for a spot in Parliament. 

Malema dismissed the threat analysis saying that the EFF was not concerned about any possible riots. He said Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe party was not a threat. 

“Our security forces in this country are well-equipped to handle any situation that might arise. We don’t see any reason why there would be a threat. We have made sure that in each and every polling station, there is an EFF agent to guard the votes of the EFF. 

“We have established a unit called Mlungisi Malamlela battalion which is on standby. Once a person says in this station or that station there are no party agents, there is no visible EFF, we instruct the nearby college, university or campus to deploy immediately into that particular voting station to secure the vote,” he said. 

He added that political parties must secure their votes on 29 May and refrain from complaining after the elections. 

“From where we are, we are solid on the ground. We are everywhere,” he said. 

Malema said the party had trained its party agents and delivered food to ensure they are fed during that day.