Africa-Press – South-Africa. EFF president Julius Malema used his speech during the party’s 10th birthday celebration at the Marikana Koppie in North West to bemoan the levels of unemployment in the country.
Speaking to supporters on Wednesday, Malema said that the vast numbers of people who had turned out to the EFF’s 10th anniversary celebrations during working hours proved that “our people are unemployed”.
The party was launched on 26 July 2013 at the Marikana Koppie, where 34 striking miners were killed in 2012.
Malema said: “I am happy, SG [secretary-general], that the rally was organised during the week and during the day, we do not have to say anything.
“The international community must ask the question, ‘Why so many people during working hours?’ The answer is simple, they are unemployed, and there are no jobs because the government of the day has destroyed the economy of South Africa.”
The party’s birthday event at Marikana comes just days before the big celebration at FNB stadium on Friday.
Malema said when he, EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu and the late Sindiso Magaqa had visited Marikana 11 years ago, some of the miners who survived the shooting asked them to form an alternative political party to the ANC, and they had heeded the call.
“Today, we are here to dance and celebrate so that the enemy looking at us from a distance must feel the chest pains. Because they said the EFF would not last, but we are still here 10 years down the line.”
Malema, Shivambu and Magaqa were part of the ANC Youth League then. Shivambu and Malema were later expelled from the party.
Malema said Marikana was the “spiritual home of the EFF”, and that the party celebrated its birthday at the Koppie to “remind them of the heartless atrocities they have committed on this beautiful land and left us with a permanent ugly scar”.
“Today is the actual birthday of the EFF, and we mark it here in Marikana Koppie through a traditional celebration. We have slaughtered more than 15 cows and made traditional beer as a practice of offering a sacrifice. We are in Marikana to thank the originators of the EFF’s life for all the blessings.”
He added:
He also used his speech to encourage EFF supporters to go out and vote in next year’s election.
“Next year when we vote, you must say my vote goes to Marikana, my vote goes to Mambush [Mgcini Noki, one of the miners who was killed], my vote goes against those who killed the people of Marikana.
“Next year we are making history; next year is 1994 repeat. The majority of you do not know 1994, 2024 is your 1994 as the youth of South Africa. You must make sure you come out of your houses; you must make sure you come out in your numbers to install the government of the people.”
The party supporters were not only treated to meat and umqobothi, but there was also entertainment from artists such as award-winning gospel singer Betusile Mcinga, kwaito stars Alaska and legendary maskanda artist Ihashi Elimhlophe.
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