'EFF entourage' sipped French champagne at luxury villa: Report

Did an EFF entourage quaff bottles of French champagne while racking up a bill of R60,000 at a luxury villa in Camps Bay when they travelled to Cape Town for the state of the nation address (Sona)?

The contents of at least 14 bags of rubbish, a business class SAA ticket stub and a reservation made by Larry Mavunda, bodyguard of party leader Julius Malema, suggest they did, the Daily Maverick reported on Wednesday.

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The publication acknowledged it had to "stoop low" by sifting through at least 14 bags of trash left behind by guests at the villa, purportedly owned by a German citizen, to unmask the "hypocrisy" of the red berets.

The EFF has taken a strong stance against the promotion of alcohol consumption in the country and foreign land ownership. 

A reservation was allegedly made by Mavunda for the villa on June 19, a day before President Cyril Ramaphosa's Sona. Daily Maverick said when the guests checked out on June 27, the bill amounted to about R60,000 for eight nights.

Journalist Marianne Thamm said she had found numerous empty bottles of Veuve Clicquot, Veuve Clicquot Rich, Moët et Chandon, Glenfiddich whisky and Tanqueray gin inside the discarded rubbish.

There were boxes of discarded unused condoms, bank deposit slips with bank account numbers, H&M and Zara receipts, and fast-food wrappers.

EFF supporters stormed H&M stores after one of its adverts‚ featuring a black child‚ caused a stir on social media‚ with the brand being accused of racism.

Among the SAA ticket stubs found was one for Ndlozi/M in seat 1F on flight SA 347 from Johannesburg to Cape Town in Business Class on April 19.

EFF spokesperson Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi initially told the publication there was no need to "rent" private accommodation for party MPs in Cape Town, but said invited guests did occupy private accommodation.

Pressed further, with some of the "evidence", he said: "This is laughable and typical trash journalism … go on and publish whatever satisfies your rouge [sic] investigative interests."

Malema said: "I don't comment on rubbish."

Thamm defended her decision to sift through the trash in a bid to uncover the politics of hypocrisy during an interview on Radio 702 on Wednesday.

"I'm happy to go through anyone's trash if they are talking one way and acting another," she said.