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Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema is threatening legal action against the Democratic Alliance (DA) Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille, accusing her of making defamatory allegations about him.

Malema’s lawyers have issued Zille with a formal demand following an eNCA interview on Sunday. The lawyers take issue with remarks Zille made, accusing Malema of dictating decisions in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality during Herman Mashaba’s mayoral tenure.

“Mashaba just doesn’t like me because when I was in the leadership of the DA, and he was a mayor in Joburg, he became EFF’s mayor. He allowed Julius Malema to dictate major decisions and capture City Power and dictate the fleet’s tender and do all kinds of things that were in the interest of Julius Malema and his front companies, because Herman wanted to stay in power, and he needed Julius Malema’s support to do that.”

Zille also claimed that Malema instructed the appointment of Shadrack Sibiya as head of the city’s anti-corruption unit.

Malema has rejected the allegations as false and defamatory, demanding that Zille retract the statements, issue a public apology, publish a formal statement and provide a written undertaking that she will not repeat the claims.

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