WATCH | Julius Malema gushes over Floyd Shivambu and applauds his decision to join the EFF

23 March 2021 - 11:14 By unathi nkanjeni
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EFF leader Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu.
EFF leader Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu.
Image: EFF via Twitter

A video of EFF leader Julius Malema gushing over his deputy Floyd Shivambu and applauding his decision to join the party has gone viral.

The video was taken at Malema's 40th birthday celebrations earlier this month and was shared on Monday by EFF members.

In the video, Malema can be heard applauding Shivambu for joining the EFF after he was suspended from the ANC.

Shivambu was suspended from the ruling party in 2012, after the expulsion of Malema, the then ANC Youth League president. The pair were given the boot from the party for breaching its rules and in 2013 they formed the EFF.

“Floyd and I never got expelled, I was expelled. Floyd was suspended for three years and [late former ANCYL secretary-general Sindiso] Magaqa was suspended for one year. Magaqa remained and Floyd said ‘I’m leaving with you’.”

Malema said if Shivambu was an opportunist and wanted to become a “tender dude or a careerist”, he would have stayed at the ANC but instead resigned.

“He had all the reasons to stay. He’s smart, he’s an intellectual, he’s got all types of qualifications to look for in a person, and to stay in the ANC gives you a step ahead of everybody,” said Malema.

“He knew what was there for him. With all of that, from a poor family in Malamulele, he decided on a generational mission.”

Malema admitted that he would not have left the ANC if he wasn't expelled from the party.

“I left because I was expelled, I don’t think I would have left. I asked them to retain my membership and suspend me, not expel me. They said no.

“I left and Floyd followed. Floyd is not here because he had no options, he took a conscious generational decision. Many of my friends remained,” said Malema.

In the past, Malema has said that his former colleagues at the ANC were not his enemies but his “brothers”. 

Over the weekend, he shared a snap of himself with Shivambu and justice minister Ronald Lamola celebrating ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe's birthday.

“Beyond politics, we are brothers,” said Malema.

Speaking on 702 last month, transport minister Fikile Mbalula opened up about his friendship with the EFF leader, saying they are far from enemies.

“Julius is my friend. We lived together for a long time and we transcended comradeship to become friends — meaning I know his family, he knows my family, he knows my wife and I know his wife. I know his kids, he knows my kids,” said Mbalula.

Mbalula said the friendship goes beyond politics.

“We rarely discuss politics when we are together. We talk about life, laugh and reminisce about the past because we shared a good friendship, and that still remains,” he said.


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