Beef in Inanda, as EFF plans to slaughter cows ahead of 'thank you' rally

Durban - The EFF will on Friday slaughter four cows at the Ohlange Sports Grounds in Inanda, north of Durban, ahead of its thank you rally in recognition of the party’s growth in support in KwaZulu-Natal, which manifested during the November local government elections.

This, according to a party statement put out on Thursday. EFF secretary-general Marshall Dlamini will be in attendance, according to party structures in KZN.

“The EFF will be slaughtering four cows in preparation for the Siyabonga rally to be held in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. This is to thank voters of KwaZulu-Natal for their continued faith which has seen the EFF record tremendous growth, particularly in the 2021 local government elections,” the party said.

In typical rebellious fashion, the red berets snubbed the ruling party when it chose January 8 to host the rally at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, the same day as the ANC’s birthday celebration which is set to take place in Polokwane, Limpopo.

As if that was not enough, deputy president Floyd Shivambu took it a step further when he said theirs was the only political event of importance on tomorrow.

“The only political gathering that matters on January 8, 2022: the rest are clowning and repeating the same lies they have been telling our people! #SiyabongaKZN for leading the way towards 2024 and beyond! No retreat!” Shivambu said in a tweet.

EFF leader Julius Malema and other members of the EFF national leadership are believed to be making their way to Durban for the event but whether or not Malema will spend the night in Durban is unconfirmed at this stage.

“The national leadership decided to come and thank the people of KwaZulu-Natal for their consistency in terms of voting for the EFF. The commander in chief and the entire national leadership will be coming to meet with the fighters and voters of KwaZulu-Natal.

“Of course, there will be pronouncements on how we are going to move forward because the truth is, like we said before, we wanted to bring the ANC to below 50% in the metro and all the municipalities and we’ve managed to do that. Going into 2024, we are going to remove them from the provincial government,” EFF provincial chairperson Vusi Khoza said.

The January 8 event is a symbolic one for the ANC, as it commemorates the day the party was born and usually uses the event to springboard its political agenda for that year.

But things did not not go so smoothly for party president Cyril Ramaphosa, when he was called a liar to his face by a member of the traditional leadership in Polokwane. Ramaphosa, including Deputy President David Mabuza, secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and treasurer-general Paul Mashatile arrived in Limpopo ahead of the celebration.

“Today, I am standing here without a single property being transferred. I am still asking myself what more lies we are going to hear today,” said Kgoshi Kagoshi Phaahla, who spoke on behalf of the traditional leaders.

What promises Phaahla were referring to were unclear at the time and he only made reference to a property transferral. Furthermore, Ramaphosa was deputy president of the ANC during 2017.

The president denied lying to them and said that the process to get traditional leaders' vehicles was “under way”.

jehran.naidoo@inl.co.za

Political Bureau