Johannesburg - EFF leader Julius Malema says the party will approach the Constitutional Court in its fight to have the CR17 sealed financial documents unsealed.
Malema was speaking at the EFF's 8th birthday celebration on Monday.
He said the High Court in Pretoria had offered no “acceptable reason” why the documents should remain sealed.
“The CR17 documents are public documents and we will approach the Constitutional Court to reveal and unseal those documents,” Malema said.
[MUST WATCH 🎥]: CIC @Julius_S_Malema says someone told him that our DP was in the CR17. CIC says no DP of ours is there, they must unseal those CR17 documents. #EFFTurns8 pic.twitter.com/RKQXed5O4Q
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) July 26, 2021
[In Case You Missed It]CIC @Julius_S_Malema says all people who contributed towards the CR17 campaign are all benefiting no less than R300 million in tenders. #EFFTurns8 pic.twitter.com/nPbaXO9eXS
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) July 26, 2021
The party lost its bid to make public the financial records, detailing donations made to President Cyril Ramaphosa's 2017 campaign for the ANC presidency, when the court delivered its judgment last week.
The court said the documents should remain sealed as Ramaphosa's campaign had agreed that donors’ identities would remain undisclosed. The court had also cited the late filing of the EFF’s application.
Malema said these records had to be made public and were in the public interest. He called on Ramaphosa to join the EFF’s application to the Concourt if he took disclosure seriously.
Malema also made a string of allegations, claiming that many of those who had donated to Ramaphosa’s campaign had been beneficiaries of tenders from the government.
“We will fight this one to the conclusion, we will side with the weak. We are coming for Ramaphosa. It is important that we come after the executive,” he said.
Malema, during his address, also challenged Ramaphosa to face citizens who had dire concerns over poverty.
The EFF leader said the unrest seen two weeks ago had not been an attempted insurrection, as claimed by Ramaphosa.
The EFF had been chided for its criticism of the deployment of 25 000 soldiers to Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal to help calm the violent scenes of looting and destruction.
Malema insisted that the EFF did not support looting and destruction, but that the party was committed to supporting the poor.
He labelled the looting as a cry for help from ordinary citizens who sought food to feed their families.
Malema said the government's deployment of the SANDF showed the government's lack of compassion and signs of a kleptocratic state that was determined to crush democratic rights to protest.
He said the EFF had foreseen the events that gripped the country for eight years under former president Jacob Zuma’s presidency. He said South Africa was a ticking time bomb.
"The activities of the past two weeks reflect South Africa is sitting on a time bomb. It was not an insurrection ... what happened two weeks ago was not an insurrection," Malema said.
He challenged Ramaphosa to address citizens without soldiers and assure them that their needs would be met.
Malema also spoke boastfully of the EFF's achievements during the past eight years. He said the party had shaken up politics, not only in South Africa but in the rest of the African continent as well.
Political Bureau