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Malema ‘never scared of anything’

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EFF leader Julius Malema campaigning in his home town of Seshego.  Picture: Leon Sadiki
EFF leader Julius Malema campaigning in his home town of Seshego. Picture: Leon Sadiki

Julius Malema is late for every meeting but his supporters stay put, even as the sun beats down on them and they are forced to tuck Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) posters into their doeks and beanies to create makeshift caps.

City Press – in a Ford Figo – chased after the campaigning EFF commander in chief, who zipped around Limpopo in a Mercedes-Benz Viano.

Thirty-seven stops later, his tour ended at his home in Seshego – a place where he once campaigned furiously for the ANC and President Jacob Zuma. Now he’s asking the same people to bet on him.

He insists he’s not nervous. “This is my home,” Malema says.

That he is tired, is obvious. “I am the only politician who runs around like this. Not even Mmusi [Maimane] . . .” he starts before being interrupted by the end of gospel singer Lundi’s show. Malema is called on to speak to the crowd.

“We are not unreasonable. It is possible,” he says of the EFF’s chances of running local government. Limpopo is one of two provinces in which the EFF became the official opposition following the 2014 polls.

Meeting number nine of the day, in Seshego’s Ward 13, is the big moment.

“This is my home, this is my ward,” he shouts to me over Brickz’s performance of one-time hit Tjovitjo.

There’s a big turnout. The smell of weed, alcohol and braai meat hangs in the air. His truck is parked next to the Hippo Bottle Store that many in the crowd visit repeatedly throughout the evening.

In Ward 13, just over 30% of residents gave the political newcomers – led by one of their own – their vote both provincially and nationally, according to wazimap.co.za.

This year, should residents again put their faith in the EFF, the man at the helm will be 36-year-old Mongatane (Oupa) Ramaphoko. He has the face of a 20-year-old, is slight in frame and sports a gold tooth.

Ramaphoko lives less than 500m from Malema’s childhood home. When we pay him a visit the next day, he recalls how they would sometimes meet in games of “street soccer”.

“I knew him, but we have never been friends,” Ramaphoko says.

He is nervous about talking to the media, but is confident about succeeding at the polls. “We have already won this ward. We have worked hard.”

Of Malema, he says: “He was never scared to lose everything by talking the truth.

“He remained with the principles of the circumstances. He remained firm about the issue of land. The issue of land is more important than anything in the world.”

He adds: “He’s never scared of anything.”



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