By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Economic Freedom Fighters ( EFF) has reiterated its call for the President to close the Israeli embassy with immediate effect and the cessation of all diplomatic ties between South Africa and Israel.
EFF leader Julius Malema stressed during a media briefing that the President needs to honour Parliament’s motion, which was adopted in November 2023, to suspend all diplomatic relations with Israel as well as the closure of the embassy.
The renewed call follows the recent declaration of the Chargé d’Affaires of the Israeli Embassy, Ariel Seidman, as persona non grata.
“We further commend the declaration of the Israeli diplomat and call for the president to adhere to the long-standing resolution of parliament to close the Israeli embassy with immediate effect,” Malema said.
South Africa has not had an ambassador in Israel since 2018. In November 2023, Israel recalled its ambassador to South Africa, leaving just a Charge d’Affaires.
Phala Phala Saga
The EFF and the African Transformation Movement (ATM) have again accused the Constitutional Court of dragging its feet in not delivering the Phala Phala farm judgment.
The EFF approached the apex court last year after Parliament dismissed a report that found President Cyril Ramaphosa may have breached his oath of office.
That report raised serious concerns about the President’s conduct in his handling of the 2020 theft of foreign currency at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo.
Malema revealed that his party has ramped up its political campaign regarding the contentious Phala Phala farm saga, asserting it as a leading issue for the party as it heads to the upcoming 2026 elections.
The party announced plans to picket outside the Constitutional Court on the first Wednesday of each month until a verdict on the matter is delivered.
The focus of the EFF’s campaign centres on Ramaphosa, with the party accusing him of being complicit in concealing the truth surrounding illicit dollars allegedly stored at his Phala Phala farm in 2020.
“The Phala Phala matter is a national issue.. We will be there every first Wednesday of the month until a judgment is delivered. We have a Constitutional Court which has, for the first time, shown us this thing….It is a shame that this has happened,” Malema said.
John Steenhuisen Political Future
DA leaders John Steenhuisen announced that he would not seek a third term. However, he would stay on until a new leader was elected.
Malema says he’s not familiar with DA internal contestations and its succession battles and would rather not comment.
He says at times he also gets tempted to comment on African National Congress(ANC) matters as a former member, but never the DA.
“I’ve never been to a DA conference neither have I been anywhere close to where they held a conference. I don’t know where they hold their conferences and I don’t know what happens. From time to time, I get tempted to comment on anc conferences because I know where they come from, I know how they work. When I was in the anc until they expelled me, I’ve never lost a single conference.”
Steenhuisen was recently investigated by the party’s federal legal commission (FLC) over claims that he abused the organisation’s funds for personal use via a party credit card.
However, the FLC cleared him of misappropriation but found that there was prima facie evidence that he brought the organisation into disrepute during his public fallout with former treasurer Dion George, who recently quit the DA.