ANC ministers have accused the EFF of selling its soul by sleeping with the enemy when it backed the DA to govern three key metros in the country.
But EFF leader Julius Malema told the ANC in the National Assembly yesterday, during the debate on the outcome of the local government polls, that the ANC has only itself to blame.
Malema said he never thought he would see the day the ANC would cry for the votes of the EFF.
But the debate yesterday showed him how desperate the ANC was to govern the metros of Tshwane, Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela Bay, where the DA now governs.
Malema said they cannot accuse him of getting into bed with the DA when the ANC had done the same with the National Party in the 1990s.
He said the ANC cannot be trusted with any votes as it was corrupt and led by a kleptocratic president, Jacob Zuma.
ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu, Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba and Deputy Minister of Transport Sindi Chikunga accused the EFF of being hypocrites and of selling the country to the highest bidder.
PAC leader Luthando Mbinda also entered the fray when he accused the EFF of sleeping with the enemy.
He said the PAC would never sell itself to a liberal party like the DA because they came from different ideological backgrounds.
“We cannot support a party that is promoting liberal policies unless you are politically bankrupt,” he said, adding you may disagree with your comrade but you cannot sell him out.
DA leader Mmusi Maimane said South Africa woke up to a different country on August 4, after the opposition had dislodged the ANC in several municipalities and the key Gauteng metros.
This was because the people were tired of corruption in the ANC.
He described the election outcome as the tipping point of democracy in the country and the realignment of politics.
But Gigaba and Chikunga said the EFF votes have taken the country back to colonial days. Gigaba described the coalition between the DA and EFF as a shotgun marriage that will not last and will create instability in municipalities.
Chikunga said despite the fact that the ANC got most of the votes, there were many ANC voters who stayed away.
Mthembu said the ANC will work on its mistakes and listen to the people.
“We regret that we are perceived as being arrogant, self-serving and soft on corruption. We regret that the non-performing economy has made it difficult to overcome unemployment, poverty and inequality,” said Mthembu.
The Freedom Front Plus, African Christian Democratic Party, the UDM and the IFP also accused the ANC of being aloof and corrupt.
They said the electoral defeat was a lesson and the voters are not going to be fooled by corrupt ANC leaders.