Malema threatens to sue Zille over Joburg tender allegations

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EFF leader Julius Malema at Don Mateman Hall in Eldorado Park, south of Johannesburg, 17 April 2024. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/ The Citizen

EFF leader Julius Malema is demanding an apology from the DA’s Johannesburg mayoral candidate, Helen Zille.

This follows controversial comments by Zille about Malema’s relationship with ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba.

In a recent interview, Zille made remarks about Mashaba’s tenure as Joburg mayor under the DA and his relationship with parties such as the EFF.

“He became the EFF’s mayor. He allowed Julius Malema to dictate major decisions and capture… City Power, and dictate the fleet 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.

“He even appointed Shadrack Sibiya as the head of the anti-corruption unit at Julius’s instruction, and when I said to him, we can’t do that, and he said to me that is the price we pay to stay in power,” said Zille in an interview with eNCA.

In a legal letter distributed to the media, Malema’s lawyer, Angelike Charalambous, demanded that Zille retract her comments and issue a public apology.

“The public statement is to be shared by you (Zille) on all your social media accounts, including but not limited to Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

“The public statement is to be issued as a press statement in your name. To that end, it must be sent by you to all media houses with which you have a relationship. The EFF will also distribute your public statement via its communications department to all the media houses whose contact details it possesses,” said Charalambous.

She added that the form and content of the public statement must be submitted to the EFF for approval before publication.

According to Charalambous, Zille made the comments about Malema to damage his “good” name.

“We are furthermore instructed that your making these defamatory statements is done deliberately to exact political revenge on our client and the EFF. The defamatory statements are made in an attempt to seek your revenge against our client for being your strongest opposition nationwide, other than the ANC in the political sphere.

“We are instructed that, as such, your conduct is mala fide and done because you are disgruntled and are attempting to cause the EFF and Mr Malema maximum political damage.”

Charalambous said if Zille fails to respond to Malema’s demands, the matter will be escalated.

“Should you fail to do so, we hold instructions to institute further legal action against you, without further notice, including a claim for damages and an interdict restraining any further publication of the statements.”

The Citizen has reached out to Zille’s communication team for comment on this matter. The publication has also reached out to Mashaba for comment; both comments will be added to this story when received.

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