Julius Malema claps back at Thabo Mbeki over ANC stance
EFF leader Julius Malema has called former President Thabo Mbeki a hypocrite after he announced he would be campaigning for the ANC.
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader, Julius Malema, says former president Thabo Mbeki is a political “flip-flopper” after his announcement on Wednesday that he would campaign for the ANC in the general elections, having previously said he wouldn’t.
“You are not saying he [Mbeki] is a flip-flopper but if it was me who had said that because I am not your favourite, you would have called me names,” Malema said on Friday.
EFF leader Julius Malema has called former president Thabo Mbeki a flip-flopper after his announcement on Wednesday that he would campaign for the ANC in the elections.https://t.co/aYXKA8t43j
— Mail & Guardian (@mailandguardian) March 15, 2024
“The good thing is Mbeki said not long ago that he would not campaign for the ANC, but today he says he is going to campaign for the ANC. What has changed in the ANC’s policy, form, and content?” he asked.
ANC IN A WORSE SITUATION THAN WHEN MBEKI REFUSED CAMPAIGN – JULIUS MALEMA
Malema told Mail & Guardian on Friday, during a visit to the party’s National Operations Centre for the 2024 General Elections, that the ANC is in a much worse situation than when Mbeki said he would not campaign for the party.
He said Mbeki also refused to campaign for the party during former president Jacob Zuma’s tenure as president.
However, during his lecture at the University of South Africa (Unisa) on Wednesday, Mbeki changed his tune, saying it was his obligation as a member of the ANC to campaign and support the ruling party.
“I am a member of the ANC. Of course, I have got an obligation as a member of the ANC. We have to make our own contribution to engage the population,” Mbeki said.
MBEKI IS NO DIFFRENT TO ZUMA HE SUPPORTED COPE, SAYS MALEMA
The EFF Commander in Chief (CIC) said Mbeki was inviting himself back to the political arena; therefore, he would not be left unscathed.
“We are ready for him; let him campaign for the ANC, we will campaign for the EFF, and we will meet on the streets. We have a problem with these elders of the ANC who retire and still don’t want to retire,” the EFF leader said.
He said Mbeki was no different from Zuma because he also supported the formation of the Congress of the People (Cope), a break-away party formed by former ANC members much like Zuma’s Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK) Party.
‘FORMER ANC MEMBERS WHO JOINED COPE WERE GIVEN MBEKI’S BLESSINGS’
“What Zuma is doing is not for the first time it has been done; President Mbeki was right behind Cope. He is not going to characterise Zuma’s support for MK as counter-revolution as if his support to Cope was revolutionary,” Malema said.
He said that Mbeki loyalists such as Phumzile [Mlambo Ngcuka], Smuts Ngonyama, and Mbhazima Shilowa left the ruling party to join Cope.
“They were not going to do that without President Mbeki’s blessings and when these people wanted to join Cope, what did President Mbeki do in defence of the ANC? He kept quiet, kept a corner because he knew what he was doing,” explained Malema