Julius Malema said that the EFF demanded that the authorities should not only go after certain individuals accused of corruption but must also focus on bringing criminal charges against the CEOs of banks who were found to have manipulated the rand’s value among others.
EFF leader Julius Malema briefs the media during a virtual press briefing in Braamfontein on 26 October 2020. Picture: @EFFSouthAfrica/Twitter
JOHANNESBURG – The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) said that while it noted that the police and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had been arresting people accused of corruption, the law enforcement agencies should not turn a blind eye to other alleged crimes, including the Steinhoff collapse.
Party leader Julius Malema was addressing reporters in Johannesburg.
He is under investigation, with reports that the state capture commission has requested records of his banking transactions.
The Hawks have been on an arrest mission in recent weeks, going after high profile business people and politicians.
Malema said that the EFF demanded that the authorities should not only go after certain individuals accused of corruption but must also focus on bringing criminal charges against the CEOs of banks who were found to have manipulated the rand’s value among others.
“Our demand is that the South African Police Service (SAPS) and NPA must not forget those that collapsed Steinhoff, leading to the Government Employees’ Pension Fund forfeiting more than R20 billion of its investment.”
He said that the NPA must only arrest people when their cases are ready for prosecution.
In some of the recent cases, the courts have had to postpone matters to next year to allow for further investigation.
‘PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE’ TO FOLLOW COVID-19 REGULATIONS AT PROTESTS
While Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has implored South Africans to continue following all COVID-19 prevention measures, he said that it was “practically” impossible to achieve this during protests.
Thousands of the party’s members took to the streets in Senekal in the Free State recently to protest during the court appearance of two men accused of murdering a farm manager.
The EFF is expected to once more swell the streets of Johannesburg this week when Malema and party MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi appear in court after they pushed a police officer during the funeral of late struggle veteran Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
Malema said that the situation could get complex: “We know very well that people have said that it is difficult to run with masks and at the picket lines we are permanently running because we are protesting and all manner of things. I won’t promise that there will be any masks or any social distancing at the picket lines, it’s practically impossible.”
Malema was briefing reporters about the party’s central command team meeting which discussed various policy issues and resolved to, among others, appoint former party deputy secretary-general Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi as head of its labour desk.
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