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EFF leader Julius Malema says he is not a dictator, he just works very hard and that is why he was elected unopposed.
Addressing the media on the third day of the party’s second National People’s Assembly on Sunday, Malema said it is those that could not defeat him who are now making baseless allegations.
“From my time in the ANC Youth League to now I have been elected unopposed ... was I a dictator when I was in the youth league when I contested individuals who were way older than me?”
“Even former ANC Youth League leaders Fikile Mbalula didn’t like me, Malusi Gigaba didn’t like me and many others, was I a dictator then?” asked Malema.
He went on to credit his work ethic, saying that he had and will always be favoured because of his hard work.
“You can hate me or like me but one thing that you cannot deny is that I work hard,” said Malema.
He added that “my work speaks for itself, you can not deny that I work hard. Even at this conference I know all the details of the conference.”
The EFF leader was nominated unopposed on Saturday and the faction aligned to him was also elected as expected.
Deputy president Floyd Shivambu also retained his position but it was not a smooth return to power as former national chairperson Advocate Dali Mpofu was also nominated for the same position.
Mpofu accepted the nomination but failed to meet the threshold of 30% (954) of the delegates to take the contest to a secret ballot.
Having advocated for gender equality during his political report, Malema’s wish to see more women take up the mantle soon came true as Veronica Mente, Omphile Maotwe and Poppy Mailola were elected chairperson, treasurer general and deputy secretary general respectively.
Controversial EFF KZN provincial leader Marshall Dlamini was appointed as secretary general.
Day three of the EFF conference was, however, dominated by the alleged manhandling of delegates by the party’s para-military security unit, popularly known as the Defenders of the Revolution (DOR).
Malema refused to discuss the party’s security arrangements with the media, only announcing that the DOR individual popularly known as “The General” had since been “relieved from his duties”.
Malema said discussing security with the media would compromise safety matters within the party.
“We can’t speak about issues of security in the media with our opponents listening, that will not happen,” said the EFF leader.
The party is expected to elect members of its Central Command Team on Sunday.
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