A RED tide of thousands of the Economic Freedom Front party’s ground forces from across South Africa gathered at the Orlando Amstel Arena in Soweto on a scorching hot day to hear their Commander-in-Chief Julius Malema crack the whip against a plethora of politically-related incompetence’s on the eve of the 2026 local government elections.
At a now familiar rendezvous usually held on the eve of national, provincial and local elections named Tshela Thupa (crack the whip), the populist leader spared no section of society – Zionists, capitalists, racists, the media, et cetera – as he railed against more than three decades of elected politicians’ failure to render services unto the masses across South Africa.
Malema had arrived at the venue along with the EFF’s top brass and mayoral candidates for the hotly-contested metropolitan areas of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni.
He was considerably late for the time he was scheduled to deliver his keynote address on a day when the rally coincided with the much-anticipated Soweto Derby at the nearby FNB Stadium.
Appearing in fine fettle, despite a cloud of possible incarceration hanging over him, the livewire leader demonstrated his natural knack of working up a crowd as he walked around the length and breadth of the pitch to wave and toyi-toyi for his party’s supporters seated across the surrounding grandstands.
On a programme which commenced with the singing of the EFF’s version of the national anthem (which doesn’t include the english and afrikaans stanzas) by the party’s Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, viz., Koketso “KK” Poho – time was allotted for three of the party’s mayoral candidates to pitch their mandates.
Of the trio of women who included Treasurer General and City of Tshwane mayoral candidate Omphile Maotwe and the City of Johannesburg’s Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, one who caught attention through both her attire and speech was the erstwhile Speaker of the City of Ekurhuleni, Nthabiseng Tshivenga.
Clad in a domestic worker’s tunic and apron, the UNISA LLB graduate focused her speech on economic relief, permanent job creation and service delivery.
On an impressive dais decorated with fresh red roses which aesthetically complemented the huge banner in the EFF’s primary colour emblazoned with Malema’s smiling visage, the party’s honchos shared the elevated stage with dignitaries from around the globe who included Japan’s ambassador to South Africa, H.E. Fumio Shimizi.
Gospel singer Winnie Mashaba momentarily had them up on their feet dancing to a song she performed onstage before the EFF’s deputy president Godrich Gardee ushered Malema to deliver the keynote address signaling the last leg of the campaign before Wednesday’s polls.
At the C-i-C’s introduction, the supporters – referred to as “ground forces” – voiced joint approval in a crescendo which rose around the stadium akin to an oral Mexican wave.
And in typical Malema wont, his initial words hit the ears of the party faithful – donning t-shirts inscribed with the words Victory or Death – with instant resonance. “When we said these elections are Victory or Death, we recognized that if we did not win, our people would continue to live under conditions of corruption, incompetence and failing local government led by corrupt leaders,” Malema’s initial speech unfolded.
Pointing out that the last time he had spoken at the stadium was when he bade farewell to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in April 2018, Malema thanked the party’s ground forces for making the latter phase of the Tshela Thupa campaign for victory possible through door-to-door and community meetings.
“As I return back home tomorrow, I will deliver the report to my grandmother’s grave that there are still people who care.”
Conversely Malema slammed what he referred to as “paid media that answers to its owners more than to its duty to inform” – while commending party supporters for campaigning through a social media onslaught against the EFF from “paid influencers and chancers who make money from insulting the EFF to please Zionist apartheid Israel and America.”
Malema’s speech went on to touch on the state of municipalities across the country, mentioning captured service providers, non-collection of waste, and broken water infrastructure at places such as the Eastern Cape, Hammanskraal, Giyani and Rustenburg. “I’m sorry President Mandela that your children are going through the most, but we will fix that from the 5th of November,” he lamented.
Mentioning that he’s been to every parts of the country, Malema listed in detail all the shortcomings which also included raw sewerage, pot holes, hijacked buildings, broken street and traffic lights commonplace in areas such as Sharpeville, Mbombela, eThekwini, Kempton Park, Gugulethi, et cetera.
Claiming that the collapse of municipalities were business models willed by corrupt politicians, he elsewhere deep into his address delved into what the EFF was doing to mitigate against such maladies.
He stated that the EFF is an opportunity for victory as it offers an alternative through its manifesto premised on a programme which responds to specific problems faced by people in every sector of local government.
Inter alia, Malema committed the EFF to fixing leaking water pipes; establishing municipal construction and maintenance units for roads and potholes; insource refuse collection and sewer maintenance; expanding free basic electricity to every indigent household; release of well-located land for housing, et cetera.
Reassured Malema: “Fellow South Africans, these are not dreams. The EFF has already shown what it can do, even as an opposition party in Parliament.” He followed that assertion by listing a slew of endeavours the party made realisable ever since its formation in 2013 – additionally claiming that the EFF is the most stable coalition partner in South African local government.
Malema also touched on the inevitability of coalition arrangements and how the EFF has maneuvered through them, and declared that people ought to know that a vote for the EFF is a vote for a municipality that works, respects them and which will never again be captured.
After a long-drawn out speech whose duration lasted for as long as the derby (which enticed some of the EFF’s supporters to overflow onto surrounding taverns to view on televisions), Malema invoked the ancient phrase Patria o Muerte, viz., Victory or Death by urging the gathering: “Let’s go win, Fighters. Between Victory and Death, we choose victory because we are not a bunch of losers.
All we do is win, no matter what.”
Top Image Jacob MAWELA (Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, the Economic Freedom Fighters’ mayoral candidate for the City of Johannesburg limned addressing supporters during the party’s Tshela Thupa Rally at the Orlando Amstel Arena.)
