Johannesburg – EFF leader Julius Malema has explained that his party is specifically aiming to remove Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip because he is white.
"We have taken a decision that we are going to remove the mayor of PE [Port Elizabeth]," he told a crowd gathered for the launch of the party’s election registration campaign at the Standard Bank arena in Johannesburg on Sunday.
"Why? Why not [mayor of DA-led Johannesburg Herman] Mashaba, why not Solly [Msimanga – mayor of DA-led Tshwane]?
"Because the mayor of DA in PE is a white man. So, these people, when you want to hit them hard – go after a white man. They feel a terrible pain, because you have touched a white man."
He said this did not mean that the EFF would not target Mashaba and Msimanga.
"They will be touched - don’t worry. But we are starting with this whiteness. We are cutting the throat of whiteness.
"Trollip will not be a mayor after the 6th of April, if they give us that date."
He slammed comments that the EFF would be bringing the ANC back to lead the metro, saying that in the local elections, the people did not choose an outright majority for any party in metros like Mandela Bay, Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni.
"No one can claim authority and legitimacy and say it [their leadership] is based on the people of these cities. The people rejected us. They said: 'not one of these parties is worth [more]… than 50%'. So, no one is entitled to any mayorship in these metros."
On Saturday DA leader Mmusi Maimane slammed the EFF for its intention to table a motion of no confidence Trollip.
"You may have heard of a small party that is going around saying that they are going to vote us out of government in Nelson Mandela Bay metro," said Maimane at the Mpumalanga provincial Congress in Secunda.
"Now, friends, I can’t explain that thinking to you. It is madness. It is insane. But people must ask them what they are thinking. And they must explain to the voters and the residents of Nelson Mandela Bay why they are handing the city back to the corrupt ANC," he said.
Earlier in the week, Malema said he was determined to "punish" the party in Nelson Mandela Bay for rejecting its motion to allow a constitutional review on land expropriation without compensation.
Speaking on Wednesday at the party's public healthcare campaign in Soweto, he said: "We need to take that away from them, to teach them a lesson to make them appreciate that we mean business when it comes to land."
His comments came after the party's motion for the amendment of the Constitution to allow expropriation of land without compensation received overwhelming support.
The EFF motion, with an ANC amendment, was supported by the majority of MPs on Tuesday and paves the way for a review of the Constitution on land expropriation.
The DA, however, said it would report Malema to the Equality Court for what it deemed to be hate speech and incitement of violence.
The DA quoted him as saying in a previous speech: "[W]e are going to remove a mayor of PE... [we] are going for your white man in PE. We are going to cut the throat."
On Sunday, Malema echoed this exact quote.
