Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema says his party will rally behind Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi in the province’s legislature.
Speaking in Cape Town on Thursday afternoon, Malema expressed satisfaction with the ANC in Gauteng, led by Lesufi, after the premier shut the Democratic Alliance (DA) out of his provincial executive.
“The province of Gauteng… it has completely rejected the DA and went on to constitute government without them. We are going to make sure that the government of Gauteng works,” said Malema, speaking ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s opening of Parliament address on Thursday evening.
Malema was addressing the media after a meeting of the so-called Progressive Caucus of Parliament, consisting of:
- uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party
- EFF
- African Transformation Movement (ATM)
- National Coloured Congress (NCC)
- United Africans Transformation (UAT)
This grouping has been setup as an antithesis to the 10 government of national unity parties, consisting of:
- ANC
- DA
- Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)
- Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC)
- Patriotic Alliance (PA)
- Freedom Front (FF) Plus
- United Democratic Movement (UDM)
- Al Jama-ah
- Rise Mzansi
- Good party
Malema-Panyaza tie-up
Lesufi snubbed the DA when he named Gauteng members of the executive council (MECs) on 3 July 2024, bucking the trend seen in KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Zulu’s group MECs and the Ramaphosa’s ministers and their deputies.
And for keeping the DA out of the provincial Cabinet, Malema is prepared to work with the Gauteng ANC in the provincial legislature.
“We’re going to support it [Gauteng government] because not supporting the government of Gauteng is to support the DA. If the Gauteng government fails, the doomsdayers are going to say ‘you see if you don’t work with the DA, you are going to fail,’ said the EFF leader.
However, Malema stressed that they were not in a coalition with the ANC, but would vote with the party on issues based on their merits. He also said this would serve as an example to ANC’s national executive committee.
“We are not in an alliance with them [the ANC in Gauteng]. We are going to vote for their budget, for whatever is required from us, in order to defeat DA and demonstrate to the national [ANC] leadership that you could have done the same. You don’t need the DA,” said self-style commander in chief of the Red Berets.
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