Threats against Malema can’t be ignored: security expert

Allegations about a plot to assassinate Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema cannot be ignored and must be acted upon quickly.

This is the view of Jasmine Opperman director of the Africa Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium.

Opperman said the police do not have the luxury of time and must act to verify the credibility of the information before them.

“If a threat is made against a senior political leader‚ that is serious. That cannot be underplayed. One would assume two things. There will be a look at the security of Julius Malema‚ simultaneously a proper investigation is conducted to get to the facts as quick as possible. This process is conducted within the intelligence environment.

“The problem for the police is that they cannot ignore it. The cooperation between Mr Malema and the police is now essential to get to the bottom of who made these threats and are they actually factual‚” said Opperman.

The EFF stepped up its own security after being alerted to a death threat to the commander in chief originating in North West.

Spokesperson Tebogo Mokwele said individuals in the province "have approached drug dealers and assassins in different provinces" to assassinate Malema.

The party is not taking the threats lightly. Mokwele said the alert to the EFF about the covert plans had come from reliable sources.

Opperman said it was important for the police to thoroughly verify the information before them and the credibility of the contact who provided it.

“When you start working with contact information‚ always be wary of the contact’s intent and where the contact has obtained the information. A proper investigation has to be done to either confirm or verify the reliability of the information and the credibility of the content. We are in a vulnerable state in the political situation of South Africa. People will say anything to please and make money‚” she said.

On Wednesday‚ Nonkululeko Phokane‚ the spokesperson of Police Minister Bheki Cele‚ confirmed that Malema himself had brought the issue to the attention of Cele. The two had spoken about it and it was handed over to the national commissioner‚ General Khehla Sitole‚ to action an analysis on what was happening.

Jakkie Cilliers‚ chairperson of the board of trustees at the Institute for Security Studies‚ said the allegations of a plot against Malema were difficult to comment on.

“It is difficult to comment without knowing where the threats come from. But from a distance it appears that these things are more about politics and optics than about anything else‚” said Cilliers.

Cilliers warned that “one does not know it this is a smart trick of the EFF to raise the profile and create the drama about it or is this real and substantive”.

The EFF in North West wants to table a motion of no confidence against Premier Supra Mahumapelo in the provincial legislature.

The speaker of the North West legislature‚ Susan Dantjie‚ postponed the matter this week to allow for the court process that the EFF had initiated.

The EFF approached the court on an urgent basis for an interdict to compel the speaker to conduct the no-confidence vote by secret ballot.