Zuma is so afraid of the EFF that he’s adopting their policies: Maimane
DA leader Mmusi Maimane has laid into the ANC’s policy shift towards “radical economic transformation”, saying that the ruling party has become so scared of the EFF that it’s now adopting its policies.
Maimane was speaking at the SONA debate being held in Parliament on Tuesday (13 February), addressing a speech that he was not present to hear, having walked out with the rest of his party during proceedings.
Despite this, the DA leader described president Zuma’s address as being hollow, no real plan of action. He criticised the ANC government for having no plan of substance, instead lining up new opportunities for cronyism, while throwing in populist rhetoric in an attempt to drum up support.
“We heard about the same old 9-point plan, sprinkled with a bit of stop-gap populism like land expropriation, talk of a state-owned mining house, and threatening the banking sector.”
“Mister President, are you seriously so afraid of the EFF, that you would follow their policies,” Maimane said to Zuma directly.
“You must in fact know that these policies will lead us down the same failed path as Zimbabwe and Venezuela.
“The fact of the matter is your plans have been tried and have been tested and have failed everywhere they have been tried. And when you go backwards, this is where you will end up. South Africa cannot go backwards.”
Maimane then continued to refer to the DA’s “rescue plan” as an alternative policy – which was challenged as “grand standing” by the ANC.
EFF absent
The EFF was not present at the Parliamentary debate, having been thrown out during the SONA – which carries a suspension of 5 working days.
However, the party held its own media conference before the SONA debate kicked off, in which party leader Julius Malema lambasted the ANC, and spelled out its doom in 2019 national elections.
Referring specifically to the SONA mess, Malema said that the EFF would remember ‘the beatings’ when it came to any future coalition agreements, and said that the ANC’s days in government are numbered.
Following municipal elections in 2016, nationally, the ANC saw its support decline to 54%, from 64.8% in 2006, and 61.9% in 2011. The DA has grown from 16.2% in 2006, to 23.9% in 2011, to 27.1% in 2016.
In Johannesburg, the ruling party surrendered the majority to a coalition government under DA mayor, Herman Mashaba.
Malema said on Tuesday that the EFF is the only party that got an increase in 2016 elections. “And before that, we were fighting in parliament. Our fighting doesn’t make us lose votes. We gained votes in 2016 for our resilience and defense of the constitution,” he said.
“It’s not emotion here. It’s science. We are going to intensify the strategy and also build branches in this year,” Malema said.
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