EFF leader wants the DA’s Joburg mayoral candidate to retract her remarks by Wednesday or face legal action.
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The political battle between EFF leader Julius Malema and DA Joburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille is heating up after the Red Berets’ leader demanded an apology over her explosive remarks about his relationship with ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba.
Malema has instructed his lawyer, Angelike Charalambous, to demand that Zille withdraw her statements and issue a public apology.
Zille has until close of business on Wednesday, 11 November, to retract her remarks and publish a statement.
The dispute follows Zille’s interview on eNCA, in which she accused Mashaba of allowing Malema “to influence major decisions” during his time as Joburg mayor under the DA.
She claimed Mashaba relied on Malema’s support to stay in power and allegedly allowed him to influence decisions involving City Power and the city’s fleet tender.
“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,” said Zille.
She further alleged that Mashaba appointed Shadrack Sibiya as head of the city’s anti-corruption unit at Malema’s instruction.
“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,’” she said.
But Malema is not taking these allegations lightly.
In a legal letter circulated to the media, Charalambous demanded that Zille retract the statements and issue a public apology.
The legal team wants the statement issued as a press release in Zille’s name and shared across all her social media platforms, including Facebook, X and Instagram.
It must also be sent to all media houses with which she has a relationship, while the EFF’s Communications Department will distribute it to media houses in its own database.
“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 letter reads.
Charalambous further said the apology’s wording and content must be submitted to the EFF for approval before publication.
Political revenge?
The lawyer accused Zille of making the statements deliberately to damage Malema’s reputation and the EFF politically.
“We’re furthermore instructed that your making these defamatory statements is done deliberately to exact political revenge on our client and the EFF,” she wrote.
She argued that the remarks were an attempt to retaliate against Malema and the EFF for being among Zille’s strongest political opponents.
“We’re instructed that, as such, your conduct is mala fide and done because you’re disgruntled and are attempting to cause the EFF and Mr Malema maximum political damage,” the letter further states.
Legal action looms
Charalambous warned that if Zille misses the Wednesday deadline, Malema’s legal team will pursue further action against her.
This could include a claim for damages and an interdict to stop her from publishing the disputed statements again.
“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.”
