An uninvited Julius Malema squeezed through a small green gate - manned by security guards - as he made his way to the stage where leaders were meant to be seated. Police officials and the security guards had closed the gate, pushing back ordinary protesters and only allowing media and "leaders" inside the VIP area on the Union Buildings lawns in Pretoria.Noticing the distance between the stage and the line where the masses were kept at bay, an unimpressed Malema turned to EFF spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi: "What is this? We can't be so far from the people. We are not ministers."The self-proclaimed EFF commander-in-chief then walked up to confront Irvin Jim, the general secretary of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, which was one of the organisers of the anti-corruption march."Look at the space [between the marchers and their leaders]. Can you imagine what the pictures will look like?" he asked Jim.The Numsa leader promptly called his right-hand man, Castro Ngobese, to explain the decision to have the stage so far from the main body of the marchers.Although Numsa and former Cosatu secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi had been dubbed the chief organisers of the event, it transpired from Ngobese's answers that they were not entirely in control.Numsa had not paid for the stage, Ngobese told Jim and Malema, and therefore had no say as to where exactly it was erected.story_article_left1Malema would have none of it. "I am going to tell the police to open that gate. We can't be so far from the people," he declared.He did just that. In no time, the crowds were moving closer to the main stage.By the time Vavi - the face of the march - arrived at the Union Buildings lawns, Malema had been happily ordering marshals around.Malema was clearly in charge. In fact, he had been in charge from the word go, at Burgers Park in the Pretoria inner city, where the protest march began.The crowd seemed more interested in him than the other religious, political and civil society leaders present at the start of the march.At that stage, Vavi was a no-show, leaving Malema, United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa and outspoken Anglican Bishop Jo Seoka to lead the march to the Union Buildings.Vavi eventually joined the march, and walked behind them alongside Jim and former South African Democratic Teachers' Union president Thobile Ntola.Much later, at the Union Buildings, the organisers were to reveal that they had initially made no plan for Malema to address the marchers."Comrades, it's not on the programme," announced Stephen Faulkner of the United Front from the podium."But I think in the spirit of mutual respect and in recognition of the way we've behaved ourselves in a comradely manner this afternoon, we'd also like to give a copy of this memorandum and to allow the comrade who receives it to give a few words of greeting to the meeting ... the commander-in-chief of the EFF."Malema stole the show with his electrifying speech.Cries of "Juju! Juju!" reverberated all the way to President Jacob Zuma's office in the west wing of the Union Buildings.The anti-corruption march was organised by a number of NGOs, including Section77, the Treatment Action Campaign, Right2Know, Sonke Gender Justice, Corruption Watch and the United Front.Political commentators saw it as a first step to test Vavi's support before he decided whether to start his own political party, a new federation or a front.Organisers had threatened to fill the Union Buildings with 100000 protesters - as a show of force and a warning to the ANC government that citizens were fed up with corruption and that the ruling party faces losing power.But generous estimates are that about 5000 marchers made it to the Union Buildings - and the EFF was the most represented political party.Organisers blame the relatively low turnout on the fact that Numsa members were not granted the right to go on strike on the day.But if Vavi was disappointed by the turnout, he did not show it. He had a strong message for Zuma's government, which he accuses of not doing enough to fight corruption."We are the only country that allows parliamentarians and the ministers employed here - very well-fed, overweight and sweating - telling us that we must believe in our country and that when we see a swimming pool, we must call it a firepool. We are here to tell the president, the ministers and those paranoid members of the NEC [national executive committee] of the ANC that in fact all of you should have resigned for allowing the private sector and corrupt public servants to steal R246-million from us, the taxpayers."Vavi, who insists to some that he is still an ANC member despite being expelled from Cosatu, softened the blows on the ruling party by telling the crowd that the march was not an anti-ANC protest.A stone-faced Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe, who had come to the lawns to accept the marchers' memorandum on behalf of Zuma, sat there listening quietly.full_story_image_hright1Later, after Radebe had accepted the memorandum and made some encouraging statements about the government's commitment to fight corruption, Vavi returned to the podium for some more government bashing."Comrades, after listening to the minister saying that 177 officials have been arrested and this is now supposed to be showing and demonstrating the work government is doing to combat corruption ... a mere 177 ... this is not laughable, this is very sad."A visibly angry Radebe stood up and left. But later he told journalists that Vavi was within his rights to respond to his remarks: "We are a free democratic society. Freedom of speech is entrenched in our constitution."Although many who attended the event were sympathetic to Vavi and the move to form an alternative party, others were not interested in politics, and had legitimate concerns about corruption.The Rev Douglas Torr of the Anglican Church said his church had long been speaking out against corruption ."We've always stated that corruption was hampering service delivery," said Torr."Some of us are concerned about service delivery and the state of education. This march gives freedom of expression to a number of voices to express their concerns."Another protester, Alfios Mokgalaka, said he had come all the way from Roodepoort to march against corruption as he had been victimised by corrupt individuals.Mokgalaka said he had been pushed out of two jobs - at Telkom and in the Presidency - unfairly."I am here to support the anti-corruption campaign because I have been treated unfairly by my employers."In the weeks to come, Vavi and his comrades will be mulling the turnout - and whether it indicated that the ground was fertile for a new left-leaning party to formally enter the political arena.One reality they would have to contend with, if they do form a party, is that a large section of those who backed the march already see Malema as their true political representative...