Johannesburg - Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has again ridiculed President Jacob Zuma, saying he was an illiterate leader devoid of any ideas.
“(It’s all about) leadership from the head (based on memorising),” Malema said, addressing hundreds of EFF delegates at Uncle Tom’s Hall in Soweto on Saturday.
“(Look at) Mandela Day. (It was said ‘every day must be Mandela Day’. But he (Zuma) said every day must be Mandela birthday.
How possible is that? You see the importance of education? He didn’t get to ask,” Malema said.
He said canvassing for Zuma’s presidency was a “disaster we have done to our country” and “a very stupid mistake” that “must be corrected”.
He told delegates that while an ANC Youth League member, he used to frown in embarrassment whenever Zuma presented his State of the Nation addresses.
“In the… address, there was an item about DBSA (Development Bank of Southern Africa). He (Zuma) says Absa. Where does Absa come from in the process?” Malema said, adding that he and other EFF members had no regrets about ditching the ANC.
“So there is nothing we are missing, nothing that bothers us. When he starts speaking, the sooner we wanted him to finish.
We didn’t need that for our country. We wanted quality leadership (and) not quantity leadership that must be obsessed with their own families.” Malema added that Zuma’s government copied other parties.
“(Last year) the president went (to Marikana) and passed the workers to have a meeting with the whites. So (we) went. We knew we would be followed (because) they don’t have an idea.
“Everywhere we go, they follow (us). No ideas. There are no brains there. The only thing they do is alcohol.
“We set the agenda for this country. This nation is going to be a beret nation (EFF’s trademark red berets, styled on Ernesto “Che” Guevara, an Argentine Marxist author and guerrilla leader). You mustn’t be surprised if you see a yellow (ANC) beret.”
In a prelude to his speech, Malema had chanted slogans mocking Zuma for his polygamous marriages and for admitting during his rape trial to not using a condom.
He derided Zuma for his alleged corruption and the splurging of taxpayers’ money on upgrading his Nkandla homestead.
The Star