Julius Malema has a point to prove. Whether he succeeds will be seen on Saturday as the party he leads plans to fill Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.
The EFF is launching its manifesto at the 56,000-capacity stadium, and attendees, according to Malema, will come only from KwaZulu-Natal, with no supporters bused in from elsewhere.
“We said we don't want buses from outside KZN, we only want the people of KZN so that we can scientifically prove to everyone that the EFF exists in every corner of South Africa,” he said.
Beyond outlining the EFF's plans for South Africa for the purposes of garnering votes, he believes the party must demonstrate it has enough supporters in KZN — one of the hotly contested provinces in the upcoming election.
“You must make sure, as fighters, to mobilise all the students to come to Moses Mabhida because that is a historic event, that is where we are going to cement the presence of the EFF in KZN.
“You have a duty to make sure that stadium is full because if you fail you will make fools laugh at us, to destroy this organisation using Moses Mabhida,” he urged party members at the Mangosuthu University of Technology on Tuesday.
Malema has acknowledged the significant role KZN will play in the upcoming elections, not only in bringing the dominant ANC below 50% of the vote but also in increasing the EFF’s national share of the vote.
KZN has the second-most registered voters at 5.7-million, beaten only by Gauteng.
Malema said the EFF “can therefore not fail this weekend and has to fill the stadium”.
“Moses Mabhida cannot be a burial site of the EFF, Moses Mabhida must be the revival of the EFF through your mobilisation of the masses to fill Moses Mabhida. Make sure we get as many people as possible to come to Moses Mabhida, that is where we are launching our campaign,” he said.
The campaign’s final destination, Malema said, was the Union Buildings: “We are going to start that journey of removing (Cyril) Ramaphosa, we are starting it at Moses Mabhida. Be part of the historical march to the Union Buildings, where we are going to install the red flag that signifies that our people have emerged victorious.”
Previously, the EFF leader told Sunday Times that KZN would be the battleground for the elections.
“It is going to be a decider, remember that if you want to win national elections you have to win Gauteng, KZN and the Western Cape.
“Now they [ANC] know that Gauteng is gone and the Western Cape has been gone for some time now and now KZN is leaving, once KZN leaves there will not be an outright winner at national level,” he said.
Malema added that the EFF was confident it would erode the ANC’s majority in KZN to ultimately undermine the party all over South Africa.
“We are fighting for the number one spot, and if we fail we will be number two,” said Malema.
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