EFF's Julius Malema Says He Was Never Close to Jacob Zuma, He Was Closer to Cyril Ramaphosa
- EFF leader Julius Malema recently opened up about his relationships with President Cyril Ramaphosa and Jacob Zuma
- Malema explained that he has a closer relationship with Ramaphosa and has never had a close relationship with Zuma
- Malema says that he and Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula had opportunities to forge close relations with Zuma in the past but chose not to
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Leader of the Economic Freedom Fighter Julius Malema says despite the widespread perception, he is closer to President Cyril Ramaphosa than he is to former president Jacob Zuma.
Speaking on air to KhayaFM radio talk show host Sizwe Dlomo on Tuesday, Malema detailed his relationships with Zuma and Ramaphosa. He broke down the dynamics of those relationships while he was the ANC Youth League president.
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Malema stated that he had multiple opportunities to have a close relationship with Zuma however, he and now Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula decided against it, reports The Citizen.
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Malema added that he had never been to Nkandla prior to the tea meeting he attended at the homestead last year. He also said that during his Youth League tenure, Zuma would throw end-year functions which he and Mbalula opted not to attend.
"We took a conscious decision, myself and Mbalula, that we shouldn’t go there and be seen to be part of the plates and furniture of president Zuma because we are not that,” he said.
The Red Berets leader stated that if he were to compare his relations with Zuma and Ramaphosa, he has a closer relationship with Ramaphosa, whom he occasionally calls. He added that he has never had Zuma's personal phone number and has never had a phone conversation with the former president, according to a report by TimesLIVE.
"But I have got Cyril's number and I speak to him on the phone so actually if you had to compare the relations, I am more closer with Cyril than I am to president Zuma."
He also added that with Ramaphosa, he has the type of relationship in which they can have easygoing conversations at any time.
How Malema's relationship with Zuma soured
Malema explained that his relationship with Zuma deteriorated after the former president decided to take on a second term as president. He stated that the original plan was for Kgalema Motlanthe to become president after Zuma's term ended but he refused to allow that.
Malema said after that incident, he was determined to see that Zuma ended up behind bars. However, now that Zuma has been arrested, Malema says Zuma should rather be kept under house arrest.
EFF ordered to pay legal costs, court rejects bid to unseal CR17 bank statement
Briefly News previously reported that the Economic Freedom Fighters have been ordered by the Pretoria High Court to pay legal costs after the party's application to have President Ramaphosa's bank statements in connection to his CR17 ANC presidential campaign unsealed was dismissed.
The EFF will now have to pay a monetary sum to the courts to reimburse them for their time, according to The South African.
The EFF, along with other public figures, approached the courts to have Ramaphosa's bank statements revealed, mainly to find out who his donors were during his election campaign.
Senior Counsel of the EFF Ishmael Semenya stated that the party's application to have the president's bank statement unsealed was in the public interest. He further added that the party was not trying to say that there was anything suspicious with the bank statements.
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Source: Briefly News
