EFF leader Julius Malema briefed the media on Thursday and spoke on allegations that have surfaced at the Madlanga Commission concerning him and the EFF.
- Julius Malema says no EFF leader has been implicated by evidence or testimony before the Madlanga Commission.
- Malema dismissed testimony from Fannie Nkosi about a “red beret” list of security companies.
- Malema also rejected claims of involvement in the so-called Big 5 cartel, saying he is suing Patriotic Alliance’s Kenny Kunene.
No EFF leader has been implicated in the allegations stemming from the Madlanga Commission, according to the party’s president, Julius Malema.
During a media briefing at Winnie Madikizela-Mandela House, the party’s headquarters, in Johannesburg on Thursday, Malema addressed journalists’ questions about allegations stemming from the commission.
The commission, on 19 March, revealed WhatsApp evidence that Tshwane chief financial officer Gareth Mnisi was tasked with ensuring that Malema “verify” that seven security companies had EFF support to win a security tender.
Pretoria cop Fannie Nkosi testified about the “red berets” and “CIC”, short for commander-in-chief, Malema’s official title in the EFF, in relation to the security tenders in Tshwane.
Speaking to journalists, Malema said:
There is no one in the Madlanga Commission who implicated the EFF.
“People are implicating each other. If you listen with excitement, you may miss a small detail.
“Let’s take that clown called ‘007’ [Nkosi]. He says he received a list of companies from the deputy chief of police [with regards to the tender], who asked if the list comes from the ‘red berets’.”
He added: “They never said they got a list from the red berets.
“Nkosi and [deputy police chief Shadrack Sibiya] said someone brought a list and said it’s from the red berets.
“They never said the red berets sent us their list,” he said.
“The two crooks are talking about how they’re going to steal, and they put the CIC [Malema’s] name in all of that. That’s the end of the story. They leave it hanging.”
He said the commission has not verified with the EFF whether the “red berets” list belongs to the party.
“If you call that ‘implicated’, then you need to go back to Grade 1,” Malema said.
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The EFF President and Commander in Chief @Julius_S_Malema addressing the #EFFPresser.
We are pleased to have launched a successful Mass Voter Registration Campaign at the Winnie Madikizela Mandela House on the 21st of March 2026. The significance of launching… pic.twitter.com/7ZB0sKATY8
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Therefore, he said, this does not implicate the EFF or any of its leaders.
“There is no one in the EFF who is a player in the whole nonsense. People are robbing each other and throwing the EFF’s name [into it].”
Malema added:
I don’t engage in criminal activities.
On his links to controversial businessman Ze Nxumalo, Malema said he knew him from when Nxumalo was a socialite in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg.
Malema said Nxumalo is the son of an IFP leader and co-founder, and his wedding was attended by powerful white people, but links to Nxumalo are only being made against Malema.
“Because he knows Malema, let’s make it look like a crime,” Malema said, mocking the allegations.
Malema has also been accused by Patriotic Alliance deputy president, Kenny Kunene, in sworn statements, of having links to a criminal enterprise, referred to as the “Big 5” in testimony before the commission.
READ | Malema denies Kunene’s claims of midnight whisky and cash visits to taxi boss
On allegations linking Malema to the late notorious taxi boss, Jothan “Mswazi” Msibi, he said Kunene could “say whatever nonsense”, but he must repeat the allegations in court.
Malema said he’s suing Kunene for claiming the EFF leader is “at the centre of the cartel, meaning, by implication, that Big 5 drug cartel you’re looking for, I’m one of them”.
Responding to the allegation by Kunene that Malema paid R80 000 to Mswazi and a high-end McCallan whiskey bottle, Malema said: “How can I pay protection fees to myself? He said I’m the cartel. I take money to pay myself and ask myself, ‘please protect myself, no one must attack me’.
“I seek protection from no one.”
Malema confirmed he had been at Msibi’s farm, where he spoke at the funeral, as former police minister Bheki Cele stated during an appearance before the ad hoc committee investigating KwaZulu-Natal provincial police head Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s allegations.
“Why should it be a story now, now that someone mentions it the second time?” Malema asked.
In reference to Msibi, Malema said he knew “the old man” through Nxumalo.
He said later Nxumalo held a party where Malema saw there was “something about this man”, Msibi, to whom he would be introduced later.
“I never went to Msibi with a bottle. I never went to Msibi with money.”
Malema said he used to negotiate taxi transport fares for his constituency at the farm or at a hotel, and that he liked Msibi for his brain as he was an ardent reader.
