Malema: ‘Flip-flopper is a title given to me by my enemies’

“Flip-flopper is a title given to me by my enemies, and why should I worry about what my enemies think of me?”

So says EFF leader Julius Malema, hitting back at criticism that he cannot be trusted to lead South Africa as president. 

Over the years Malema's political stance has been questioned after he changed his tune on several issues, including former president Jacob Zuma and judge president John Hlophe, with many calling him “the ultimate flip-flopper”.

Speaking on SABC News, Malema said the title “flip-flopper” carried no weight. He said he does not blow with the “political wind” but instead creates it. 

“I create the wind so I can't go with the wind. I am the wind. I create the political wind in South Africa and therefore cannot go with a certain wind,” he said.

“In politics there is what we call tactics and strategy. So sometimes you have to kiss many frogs to arrive at your strategic objective.”

According to Malema, his enemies deliberately try to distort his message so he remains a “monster” in the eyes of the public. 

“It is for me, through a period of time and my involvement in politics, to demonstrate I am not what these people are saying,” he said.

During a media briefing in 2017, Malema vowed the EFF would remove Hlophe from the judiciary because he was a threat, suggesting he was a “rotten potato”. 

“In the Western Cape, that judge president Hlophe is the most worrying thing about our judiciary,” Malema said at the time.  

“You always get those rotten potatoes that want to spoil the whole bag. It’s the EFF’s job to remove those rotten potatoes and we will do that even in the judiciary. The judiciary must never think it is untouchable.”

However, in 2021 Malema threw his weight behind Hlophe for the position of chief justice.

Justice minister Ronald Lamola said the EFF should not be trusted because its leaders often change their minds when the situation suits them.

This was after Malema had a change of heart about ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile, telling News24 he was willing to back Mashatile over President Cyril Ramaphosa to lead the ANC, after previously lambasting him. 

“There can’t be someone who stands up in a press briefing and threatens the whole ANC. When it suits them,” said Lamola.

“Not long ago, when we could not have a 50% majority in Tshwane, in the City of Ekurhuleni and the City of Johannesburg, they [EFF] said they couldn’t negotiate with Mashatile.

“Today Mashatile is the best and must lead the ANC. These are the kind of characters who must guide the ANC. The ANC must be guided by its policies, resolutions, strategies and tactics.”

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