Durban - The EFF’s former uThungulu regional chairman, Bheki Shabane, says his party’s leader Julius Malema is not capable of running the country, and will only end up destroying the nation.
Shabane was speaking to The Mercury after receiving news that party spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi postponed his meeting with a group of disgruntled KZN EFF members yesterday.
The aggrieved members wrote to Malema early last month, calling on him to withdraw statements he made against the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, regarding the Ingonyama Trust and the land under the king’s custodianship.
Shabane said they requested a meeting with the party’s Top 6 after Malema allegedly responded to their letter via e-mail saying “Go to hell”.
During the launch of the EFF’s campaign for next year’s general elections, Malema said that in a democratic country the issue of expropriation of land should be debated without fear of the king.
“The Zulu king must call for engagement with regards to the land. He must be respected, he must not be feared. I don’t fear anyone, no one. I only fear God,” Malema was quoted as saying by the media.
In their letter to Malema - signed by “concerned” members of the EFF - Shabane, Sipho Majola, TS Mthembu and Eugene Khumalo - they said his remarks angered them and Malema could not point fingers at the king, as Malema was an “ordinary person”.
“The statements you are making are a threat to EFF members and supporters in KwaZulu-Natal as you are creating a platform for the Zulus to finish us,” the letter read.
Shabane said their frustrations rose when Ndlozi cancelled his meeting with them yesterday, to join the EFF delegation on a visit to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s home to pay his respects after her death on Monday.
“We sent him a letter now saying we are unhappy he cancelled our meeting and we gave him until the end of the day to respond. If we get no joy, we will consider avenues to deal with the matter by approaching the media and courts.
“We are very fed up with him (Malema). He is insulting our king and it is a very serious matter,” Shabane said yesterday.
Calls and messages to both Ndlozi and Malema went unanswered yesterday.
The issue of the Ingonyama Trust is a hot topic, following recommendations by former president Kgalema Motlanthe’s high-level panel. After conducting an investigation into land ownership across the country, the panel recommended to Parliament that the Ingonyama Trust Act should be repealed and the land under the board be taken over by the state.
Political analyst Somadoda Fikeni said some volatility was expected because of the sharp stance, manner and style Malema had in communicating.
“I think we all have to accept that it is how he is. He is abrasive, sometimes confrontational,” Fikeni said.