- The MK, which former President Jacob Zuma leads, might have robbed the EFF of votes in this election, but Malema says there’s no bitterness.
- Both are breakaway ANC parties.
Image: EFF/TWITTER
Julius Malema, head of the radical EFF party, has just finished addressing the media.
Here are three notable things from his latest answers to journalists at the national results centre.
1) Happy to work with Zuma’s party
The MK, which former President Jacob Zuma leads, might have robbed the EFF of votes in this election, but Malema says there’s no bitterness.
Both are breakaway ANC parties.
“MK - we are relatives, we’ll work with them also,” Malema said.
Zuma’s party has said it's unwilling to enter a coalition with the ANC, led by his erstwhile enemy President Cyril Ramaphosa, but Malema - who is eyeing a national coalition - says the EFF could partner MK at a provincial level.
2) EFF wants the finance ministry
Malema put forward his deputy Floyd Shivambu as a future finance minister in any coalition. The 41-year-old, a former ANC member from Limpopo province, has been serving the parliamentary committee for trade and industry.
"He’s the most qualified in all respects," Malema said.
3) Xenophobic campaigning failed
Malema scotched the suggestion that his party had lost votes because of its pro-migration policy.
He pointed out that smaller parties like ActionSA and Operation Dudula had done dismally.
“Who has benefited from xenophobic attacks? No-one. Operation Dudula they are not going to get anything – back to the village where they come from.”
He added that this all played into the EFF's ideology about a united Africa.
"We don’t want votes of racists; we don't want votes from people who thrive on the division of the working class," he said.
"We reject regionalistic politics, we reject tribalism. Tribalism leads straight to civil war."