Cape Town - When Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema opens his mouth, everyone listens. Since his days as an ANC Youth League president, Malema has built a reputation on sparking controversy. On Thursday Malema again set tongues wagging when he lashed out at Cabinet member Pravin Gordhan.
During a press conference in Johannesburg, Malema made damning allegations against the Minister of Public Enterprises:
'Pravin Gordan led grouping trying to consolidate SARS as theirs'
“The Pravin Gordan led grouping is at the moment conducting public hearings, fact finding missions, whose main pursuit is to consolidate SARS as theirs, and they even boost publicly without fear or shame to those that they are purging,” said Malema.
'He is serving the wrong organisation'
"We do not agree with his budget, we don't agree that he did not declare free education. But his limitation is that he is serving a wrong organisation,” the EFF leader said, after the 2016 medium-term budget policy statement.
'We know you guys don't want Pravin'
"Zuma's people came to me and said we don't want Pravin and we know you guys don't want Pravin. So please write questions to the President, so that President can answer genuinely and honestly so that we create cloud around Pravin," Malema said in May 2016, during the local government elections campaigns.
However, it was not all jabs...
'Reshuffling of Pravin is the end of Zuma'
"The reshuffling of Pravin and Mcebisi Jonas is the end of Jacob Zuma. We must prepare ourselves for a transition,” he said after former President Jacob Zuma did a surprise Cabinet reshuffle.
'Unite against State Capture'
"The EFF calls on all South Africans of all creed, from all religious backgrounds, all strata, and all races to unite in the struggle for free education, defence of South Africa's democracy and against state capture,” Malema said, calling on businesses to shut down when Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan appeared in the Pretoria Regional Court on charges of fraud.