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Malema's revenge politics puts ANC on notice
Julius Malema could be using the no-confidence threat to pressure the ANC, warning that arrogance will cost the party once again.
EFF leader Julius Malema has vowed the EFF will vote with the DA to oust President Cyril Ramaphosa in the mooted motion of no confidence.
If this move is successful, it could see DA leader and Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen becoming the first white president since the dawn of democracy in 1994.
Malema warns of 'white president'
'I want to warn you that this country will have a white president. Steenhuisen will be president if the ANC is behaving the way it is doing,' said Malema yesterday.
'The motion of no confidence will come, we will vote with the DA. Then, when it is time elect a president, we will abstain and the ANC will lose.'
Although Malema undertook to vote with the DA, he said his party is not working with the DA.
However, the tone of Malema's threat to vote out Ramaphosa appeared to be a complete rejection, but it also indicated a readiness to compromise – a veiled attempt to lure the ANC into agreeing to cooperate with the EFF.
MK party's silence
However, Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party remains a dark horse in the debate, as it has not yet expressed its stance on the matter.
Some analysts believe it could surprise everybody by voting in Ramaphosa's favour and, later, make demands to the ANC to accommodate it in the government of national unity (GNU), or strike a deal on Zuma's criminal charges.
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Political analyst Prof Dirk Kotzé said MK would usually vote against any DA proposal, which made it likely for them to side with Ramaphosa.
At the same time, the party could abstain to avoid being associated with either side as they also had issues with Ramaphosa, said Kotzé.
Is there room for persuasion?
There were fears that if all the political parties voted to oust Ramaphosa, considering the top four parties could cooperate to push him out, the president would be out.
However, pre-vote dealmaking was imminent, especially with traditional ANC-backing parties such as Al Jama-ah, Patriotic Alliance, United Democratic Movement, Pan Africanist Congress and others likely to support Ramaphosa's stay.
But Malema cautioned some of these parties could be persuaded by their Israeli and big business funders to remove Ramaphosa.
'A worse situation for the DA'
But Kotzé, who doubts the no-confidence motion could happen, said if it did, there was a chance of a 50-50% split to have Ramaphosa ousted.
He said the ANC needed only 10% plus one to ensure Ramaphosa stayed in power.
'If the DA removed Ramaphosa, what is the option for them? It will be a worse situation for the DA if Ramaphosa is removed,' he said.
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'I think the DA is not serious about the motion; it's just part of its strategy to push the president to agree to its demands.'
The move is also seen as Malema's revenge against Ramaphosa, who excluded the EFF from the GNU.
Malema said when the EFF and ANC vote percentages were tallied, along with those of pro-ANC smaller parties like Patriotic Alliance, ActionSA, and others, they would exceed 50%, which would ensure Ramaphosa was saved.
Malema blames ANC arrogance for its decline
He said the EFF warned the ANC in 2016, but the party never believed it.
'Now it's going to happen because the ANC had been arrogant. Even when it was humbled by the voters, it still acted in an arrogant manner.
'When [the ANC] are voting with us, they win. But when they don't vote with us, they lose. The decline started in 2016, when they lost the metros,' he said.
'It's going to happen again if they are not going to change their attitude. We are going to fold our arms and they will lose again.'
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