EFF leader Julius Malema has made a rallying cry to all leftist organisations in South Africa to unite in the fight towards a socialist agenda for the country.
Malema was speaking on the sidelines of the third day of the party’s National People’s Assembly taking place in Nasrec, south of Johannesburg.
He celebrated the attendance at the conference of various leftist leaders in the form of Saftu’s Zwelinzima Vavi and Amcu’s Joseph Mathunjwa, saying that this is a step in the right direction.
“We are making a plea for the left forces to unite. Can you imagine a march of the EFF, Amcu, Numsa, Saftu. We can shake this country. So, 2020 is going to be a year of action. The left forces united at the picket lines. The first action must be directed at Eskom. No one is going to sell Eskom under our watch. We are not going to allow that and we invite everyone who is on the side of the working class to come and occupy the picket line with us.”
Delegates have raised concerns about the use what the party calls, “Defenders of the Revolution” or DOR, who are recruited to provide security during conferences. They are demanding that marshals be used instead.
This follows an incident in which four female delegates were taken to hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning after being pepper sprayed. It’s reported that the head of the DOR was involved in the incident.
Malema says the DOR had to put their lives at risk in order for the delegates to attend the conference.
“For us to be here, those people of the DOR had to put their lives at risk and that’s how you thank them? You come here and tell us you don’t want them when they were beaten with stones in Tshwane and Gauteng and everywhere else protecting the conferences of EFF? We shouldn’t have that type of attitude. We must train them. We must make sure they’ve got the necessary skill to deal particularly with legitimate delegates. But when it comes to rascals and any agent provocateur, they must deal with it without thinking twice in protection of the red flag – the EFF.”
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