IN QUOTES | Julius Malema says he will die a happy man if the EFF removes ANC from power

EFF leader Julius Malema said he will die a happy man if his party removes the ANC from power. Malema delivered a Freedom Day address in Atteridgeville, Tshwane, on Tuesday.

He urged scores of supporters to back the EFF across branches come the local government elections later this year.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced last week that elections will be held on October 27, and urged eligible voters to register to vote.

Malema criticised the announcement and said the elections should have been postponed until the threat of Covid-19 is over, but said he was optimistic the EFF would win against the ANC in various branches because “we are not scared”. 

Here are six quotes from his address: 

The EFF must expand 

“We will never remove anyone from power if there are no structures of the EFF. We will never remove anyone from power if the youth of SA do not register. The EFF does not have branches. Let us go and launch those branches in the whole of Tshwane, Johannesburg, West Rand and Sedibeng. EFF must be everywhere.”

Local government elections 

“Ramaphosa announced the elections will be on October 27 after we told them we need to postpone because it's not safe due to Covid-19. They went ahead and made the announcement because they thought we'd be scared, but we're not, we just care about the wellbeing of our people.”

What Freedom Day means 

“When they say we must go and celebrate Freedom Day, they mean we must celebrate landlessness. They mean we must celebrate unemployment, poverty.”

There is no freedom in SA

“There is no freedom in SA. There was just an exchange of seats. Black people swapped seats with white people after elections. Nothing changed after that. We are not saying apartheid is better, but it becomes more painful when you are oppressed by people who should be understanding your condition.”

SA is ruled by whites

“We don't have government — the government is white people. Cyril Ramaphosa sold our government to white people. The whites have protection from the president. Cyril sold our government to white people and all those things we had achieved have been lost.”

The EFF can self-correct

“We said in 2016 this organisation is very big. It has a way of correcting its mistakes. Be patient with the EFF, continue working for the EFF, whether it has problems or not. We must make sure that we win with high numbers. Tshwane is available for the EFF. This municipality belongs to you.”