Showdown looming shortly. Photo Daily Maverick.
A row erupted on Wednesday between the new Economic Freedom Fighters and the City of Tshwane over the former’s use of Lucas Moripe Stadium for a rally. According to the City fathers, the use of the stadium had been withdrawn from the EFF because they had failed to attend a Joint Operations Committee meeting earlier in the day, which is a basic requirement when such events are held. This, the City contends, renders the EFF rally non-compliant and therefore illegal.
On the other hand, the EFF spokesperson, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi argued that there was no Joint Operations Committee meeting on Wednesday but had been instead held on Tuesday. He added that there had been a document missing and this would be handed over on Sunday morning. Tshwane then surprisingly backtracked and said that the JOC meeting had been rescheduled for Friday at 10 am. All this emerged after the municipality had withdrawn EFF’s right to use the stadium. The matter had to be taken to court for a resolution.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the EFF leader Julius Malema was greeted when he arrived to address a workers day rally organised by the National Council of Trade Unions (NACTU) in Emalahleni, Mpumalanga. He urged the workers gathered at the Puma’s Rugby stadium that they should remember the Marikana miners who were killed in August, 2012. Malema, who labelled the Congress of South African Trade Unions a toothless, urged the NACTU to work hard to fill the gap that had been left by the ‘useless’ congress.
Speaking at Peter Mokaba stadium in Polokwane, the SACP general secretary, Blade Nzimande, called on the voters to choose ANC and embarrass the opposition. In apparent reference to the EFF, Nzimande called on the gathered workers to shame the tenderprenuers who had stolen their colors. He further advised those intending to vote that in the opposition Democratic Alliance, black people were only good enough to protest in the streets and not for parliament. Speaking at another May Day rally in Daveyton in the East Rand, the SACP’s deputy general secretary, Jeremy Cronin urged workers not to be fooled by loud mouthed tenderprenuers in fancy shoes and fancy watches.
The Democratic Alliance leader, Hellen Zille also addressed a rally in Kimberly where she told the attendees that the DA would grow the economy like never before if voted into power. She said that the DA had a mission to make life better in the provinces and it would do this if voted into power. She paid tribute to all workers and admitted that society owed so much to workers. The opposition leader also told those gathered at the rally that her party intended bringing to their province the same kind of government that they had taken to the Western Cape, a clean government that would bring opportunities. Speaking at the same event, the Cape Town mayor, Patricia de Lille advised the voters to say no to the ANC and not to give in to the food parcels that were being peddled. She urged the voters not to sell their soul for food parcels. Also speaking at the same event, the Parliamentary leader of the DA, Lindiwe Mazibuko, told those at the rally that the president’s chickens and cattle lived in better conditions than some of the poor people in the country.
