Africa-Press – South-Africa. EFF leader Julius Malema is asking for donations to “finance the revolution”.
On its social media pages on Monday, the EFF shared a recorded video of Malema asking for donations from “peace-loving South Africans and revolutionaries from the African continent and the diaspora”.
The EFF president has asked for donations of as little as R10 to finance the party.
“We need resources to finance this organisation; without resources, this organisation will never succeed.
“It depends on genuine donations and contributions from peace-loving South Africans and revolutionaries from the African continent and the diaspora.
“We call upon all of you to make donations to the EFF because we must finance our own revolution; if we don’t finance our own revolution, counterrevolutionaries will hijack it,” said Malema.
Though it has not always been clear who funds the EFF, Malema has previously admitted alleged cigarette smuggler Adriano Mazzotti funded the party’s establishment.
For the first time last year, amid speculation of who funds the party, the EFF, which turns 10 in July, declared some of its funders through the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) political funding disclosure.
The IEC Political Party Funding Act of 2018 requires that political parties declare donations above the R100 000 threshold.
At the time, the party declared a donation of more than R3 million.
The donations came from Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Minerals and Harmony Gold Mining, which donated R1 099 088 each, as well as donations from 3Sixty Health, SA Breweries, and SN Maseko.
In February, in another round of the IEC political funding disclosure, the party made in-kind declarations after receiving R202 600 from Car Junction, which also funded the party’s branded T-shirts.
In the recorded message asking for donations, Malema listed what he claimed were the successes of the party over the past 10 years.
“We are speaking here; our organisation will be celebrating 10 years of unbroken struggle, 10 years of anti-corruption, 10 years of fighting racism, 10 years of being in the forefront of the land, 10 years of making sure that the African people are represented without fear or favour, 10 years of ensuring that black professionals are not looked down but rather are respected and treated as their counterparts,” he said.
The party will be celebrating its 10th anniversary at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on 29 July 2023.
“It is possible; it is in our hands that the organisation formed by black people can remain [a] genuine organisation that continues to represent black people. Let us make it possible, revolutionaries,” he said.
The video signs off with a song, Somlandela u Juju (We will follow Juju).
On Twitter, other EFF leaders encouraged people to make donations to the party.
Former EFF secretary general, Godrich Gardee said he had donated and mentioned the donation “is deducted from your airtime”.
While Joburg MMC for Public Safety Mgcini Tshwaku also showed screenshots he had donated with the caption, “I will do it every day”.
Meanwhile, the EFF also shared another video of treasurer-general Omphile Maotwe, filmed at FNB Stadium, where she is also appealing for donations.
In the video, Maotwe also spoke glowingly of the EFF’s successes over the past 10 years and claimed the party was “the only shield in defence of the lives of our people on the continent and the diaspora”.
She said in the past 10 years, the party had fought corruption, mentioning its “pay back the money” campaign in Parliament, where it had forced former president Jacob Zuma to pay back the money that had been used to build his private house in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal.
“The gains and the achievements of the EFF have touched the lives of our people in all spheres of society after they have been betrayed by the liberation movement.
“We all now have a place to call home, and that is the EFF … celebrate 10 years of the EFF by donating a cow, vegetables, groceries, T-shirts, buses, and anything within your means to express how over the past 10 years the EFF has touched your lives,” added Motwe.
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