Once we say we will take up arms, that means there will be civil war, EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi told The Citizen on Sunday morning.

This was in response to remarks attributed to party leader Julius Malema, who in an exclusive interview with Al Jezeera threatened that they “will remove the government through the barrel of a gun” if it continues to react violently to peaceful protest.

According to Ndlozi, there has been an increasing trend of violent reactions to service-delivery protests by government.

Ndlozi also warned that the EFF would not just sit down and fold its arms should the ANC rig the votes during the upcoming local government elections.

“Remember the dispute over Alexandra in the last elections where government sent out the army … we are saying we will no longer keep quiet or do nothing about, but we will be forced to take up arms,” Ndlozi said.

When called, Malema replied: “The EFF has a spokesperson, so call the spokesperson.”
Meanwhile, the SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) has berated Malema for abusing freedom of speech in his Al Jazeera interview.

“The claim by Malema that his party members are involved in peaceful protests is misleading and devoid of truth.

“The EFF are anarchists that are associated with lawlessness and every act of violence that undermines the rule of law,” Sanco national spokeperson Jabu Mahlangu said.

Mahlangu said that Malema’s toxic language and war talk amounted to incitement to violence that undermined South Africa’s constitutional democracy.

“His utterances are a violation of the oath of allegiance that he had sworn to as a member of Parliament,” he said.

He added that the EFF was desperately trying to lay the foundation for unruly behaviour and a rejection of the outcomes of the local government elections results, which the party had realised it was going to lose.

– stevent@citizen.co.za