Riyaz Patel
The EFF has threatened to make public the names of other ANC MPs, like Derek Hanekom, who met with the EFF with the aim of removing former president Jacob Zuma from office, City Press reports.
“We are in possession of the list of more names of ANC leaders who approached us for assistance to oust the former president,” EFF Treasurer-General Leigh-Ann Mathys reportedly said, speaking at a rally marking the EFF’s sixth birthday in Mpumalanga the weekend.
But, she said, the EFF move to release names will be a calculated move.
“You know politics is a game and we need to be strategic in the manner in which we release this information,” she said. Mathys added, “The party will caucus, and when we reach consensus we will reveal their names.”
EFF secretary-general Godrich Gardee, who met with Hanekom, also confirmed that there were many more ANC comrades who had wanted Zuma out.
“As the EFF president, Julius Malema, has already indicated, Hanekom met with us and gave us a list of ANC members who would be voting with us in a motion of no confidence against the former president,” said Gardee.
“After consulting with the rest of the party, our president will then indicate when and if he will be sharing the names of the other members.”
Hanekom’s confirmation that he met with the EFF has induced varied responses within the ANC, as his critics agitate for disciplinary action against him.
“I have said – not admitted – that at the time I met Gardee. His initiative, not mine. There is nothing with meeting a fellow MP, which is what we were at the time,” Hanekom said.
The former minister, who also heads the ANC’s disciplinary committee, has been labelled a “charlatan wedge driver” by ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, while Zuma described him “a known enemy agent.”
Some ANC veterans, however, penned an open letter to the so-called ANC Top Six and NEC Saturday, noting their “concern and alarm” over Magashule’s public attack on Hanekom.
“We strongly urge the NEC to call on all members, irrespective of their position in our movement not to make unsubstantiated accusations especially, when we all are aware of the potential consequences of irresponsibly labelling comrades as enemy agents and spies,” the letter read.
“Lastly, and most importantly, we wish to assert that the sequence of events that has unfolded this week, and attacks that preceded this on comrades Pravin Gordhan, Trevor Manuel, Maria Ramos and others, appear to be an orchestrated campaign to divert attention from corruption and state capture.”
The open letter is signed by Cheryl Carolus, Sheila Sisulu, Ilse Fischer, Murphy Morobe, Fazel Randera, Mavuso Msimang, Pallo Jordan and Aslam Dasoo.
An EFF member privy to internal discussions on the matter told City Press that an announcement on the ANC MP name release was imminent.
