Juju: I refused to plot against Pravin

EFF leader Julius Malema claims he was approached to get rid of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.

The feisty politician weighed in on reports about Gordhan's imminent arrest in the Sunday Times.

Speaking from the shack of a disabled man in Khayelitsha, Malema let rip: “Zuma’s people came to me and said we don’t want Pravin and we know you guys don’t … so please write to the president so that the president can answer genuinely and honestly so that we can create a cloud around Pravin.”

Malema has been on the campaign trail on the Cape Flats.

In Khayelitsha he even promised wheelchair-bound Lubabalo Pholose formal housing.

He blamed the DA and the ANC for neglecting the poor but soon he laid into the news of the week.

Malema would not say who had approached him to bring Gordhan down but said the plan was to have the minister arrested and fired because “we can’t have a minister who is facing serious charges”.

But the EFF leader said he refused to join the plot.

“We know they want to finish him off because they want the Treasury so that they can steal the money directly from the Reserve Bank.”

At the weekend the Sunday Times lifted the lid on alleged plans to arrest Gordhan. He is reportedly accused of breaching the Intelligence Act while at the helm of the SA Revenue Services for his role in the formation of a “rogue unit” to counter illegal activities.

The article sparked national concern which prompted a statement from the Presidency.

Zuma’s office claimed that the article was the “work of dangerous information peddlers who wish to cause confusion and mayhem in the country”.

Malema, however, believes that Gordhan will be arrested by “Zuma’s government”.

“ is not our favourite but we are happy there is some sense of stability. We have to choose between two devils.

“One devil is called Pravin and the other devil is called Van Rooyen. Therefore Pravin is the better devil. And we can live with that devil.

“It’s a mess – the ANC and Zuma are prepared to collapse this country because of their own personal interests,” said Malema.

He made a point of highlighting that the Presidency’s statement dispelling the story was an indication that Zuma was interfering with prosecution.

“Zuma must not know who is going to be arrested.

“So the day he says the rumours are wrong then he is confirming that he is interfering.”

The Presidency did not respond to questions about Malema’s statements and neither did the Finance Minister’s spokesperson.

However, political analyst Professor Steven Friedman brushed off Malema’s utterances as “standard opposition politics”.

At the weekend Malema also called on protesters to burn down ANC offices instead of schools.

“His strategy is that all publicity is good publicity so if he says something about firebombing ANC offices that will get headlines, even though it is not a particularly responsible statement,” said Freidman.

Another analyst, Daniel Silke, said the EFF was clearly “attempting to muscle in” on ANC strongholds in the Western Cape. They are, he said, targeting the vulnerable in selected ANC constituencies.

“There is a dangerous tendency to heightened political rhetoric in this election campaign which can ignite or inflame political debate over the next few months … levels of political tolerance are going to be tested among this,” said Silke.