ANC and EFF officials are to hold formal co-operation talks at Julius Malema’s request.
In an in-depth interview with the Sunday Times this week, the EFF leader said he has written to the ANC requesting the meeting to resolve a number of issues, including the renaming of Cape Town International Airport.
The Sunday Times reported last week that there had been informal talks to explore a working relationship following the cooling of hostilities between the two parties.
Malema said while there is no discussion on a return to the ANC or a coalition with the governing party, he had requested the talks so “we can find each other”.
President Cyril Ramaphosa made a number of deliberate attempts to reach out to Malema in his eulogy at Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s funeral last week.
It was Madikizela-Mandela’s wish that the EFF either return to the ANC or that the two parties forge a co-operation relationship.
Malema said there was closer alignment between the two parties as the ANC had met most of the conditions the EFF had listed during the coalition talks after the 2016 local government elections.
While commending Ramaphosa’s “easy-going” approach, Malema criticised the president for being indecisive on corruption.
“Corruption is a fundamental issue that makes us fight with the ANC,” he said.
ANC national spokesman Pule Mabe confirmed the EFF’s request for a meeting and said the secretary-general’s office was looking at possible dates when all the party officials would be available.
Read the full story in the Sunday Times.
