Pretoria - The Economic Freedom Fighters on Saturday accused the ANC-led government of trying to stop it from holding rallies by making it difficult to hire stadiums.
On the eve of its ultimate campaign rally, scheduled for the Lucas Moripe Stadium, in Atteridgeville, west of Pretoria, EFF spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said the party endured a tough campaign.
“We have been struggling throughout. We never got anything in any easy way.
We were always met with resistance when we tried to attain venues for public gatherings,” Ndlozi said.
The EFF took the Tshwane municipality to court after it cancelled a provisional agreement concluded with the EFF, on April 23, for hiring the stadium.
Last week, the city issued two press statements relating to the EFF rally set to be addressed by party leader Julius Malema for Sunday.
In the first statement, the city said the EFF failed to attend an events joint operations committee, which would render that the party's planned rally was “non-compliant and illegal”.
The city later back-tracked, saying the meeting would be rescheduled. Permission was later granted.
Ndlozi said the debacle with the Tshwane municipality was not surprising.
He said the African National Congress-led metro had “displayed paranoia and an inability to accept competition”.
“We were not surprised the city was doing that. With our experience, we knew that they wouldn't succeed. Now it's all systems go for our rally.
“It's going to be a final gathering which concludes a long election campaign.
“This rally will consolidate our confidence for victory in the elections,” said Ndlozi.
Asked why the EFF elected to hold its final rally in Pretoria, Ndlozi said: “It made logical sense to come to the capital city because we are preparing ourselves to be government.
South Africa's fifth democratic elections will be held on Wednesday. - Sapa