Malema claims he has names of SSA spies planted in the EFF - IOL
EFF President Julius Malema addresses thousands of supporters at Orlando Stadium in Soweto during the party's final Tshela Thupa election rally.
EFF President Julius Malema used the party's final Tshela Thupa rally at Orlando Stadium on Saturday to respond to this week's explosive court revelations that the State Security Agency spent R12 million to infiltrate the EFF.
"That is why the State Security Agency, through Project Mayibuye, used R12 million of public money to infiltrate both the EFF and Fees Must Fall. They planted spies in our ranks. They tried to divide us, to weaken us and to win our members back to the ANC," Malema told supporters.
"They failed. We defeated them. The EFF remains intact."
The revelations come from the ongoing fraud and theft trial of two former SSA officials - Thulani "Silence" Dlomo, often described as Jacob Zuma's former "superspy" who headed the Chief Directorate of Special Operations, and Patrick Mshothola - in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
The State, led by the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac), alleges Dlomo and Mshothola fraudulently withdrew R12-million in three tranches in early 2015 to fund Project Mayibuye.
Prosecutors allege only R1 million went to the operation and the remaining R11 million was stolen, using a disputed contract with Korolo Investment Holdings whose director testified he never signed it.
On Wednesday, protected witness Mr D, a former SSA official, testified there was "nothing to suggest the EFF posed a threat to national security" when it was targeted in 2015, when the EFF was barely two years old but had already emerged as a major opponent of then-President Jacob Zuma.
Mr D said Project Veza, an internal SSA investigation, found Mayibuye had not been properly authorised and should have been stopped.
He said he found 20 boxes of Special Operations documents and four metal boxes with silencers and surveillance equipment.
Earlier, witness Mr B testified the operation ran from just before the chaotic February 2015 SONA - when EFF MPs were ejected after demanding Zuma "pay back the money" for Nkandla - until January 2016 when funding dried up.
Planning allegedly began in December 2014 at a meeting at then State Security Minister David Mahlobo's home.
The project allegedly targeted not only the EFF's internal structures and parliamentary caucus, but also Fees Must Fall, NGOs, the judiciary and other perceived threats to Zuma.
The State closed its case on Thursday and the defence applied for a discharge under Section 174, arguing there was insufficient evidence to convict the two.
The court dismissed Dlomo's application, ruling there was sufficient evidence to answer, including allegedly falsified documents.
The EFF was granted partial access to the court records and transcripts this week to examine the extent of the alleged infiltration.
Malema told the crowd he received a list three days ago with full names and positions of infiltrators inside the EFF.
"I have that list with me. I know their names, I know their surnames, I know the positions they used to hold in the EFF and I know the positions they hold in the EFF," he said, saying he had locked it in a safe.
He linked the operation to later attempts to collapse the EFF and hand its leadership to the MK Party.
"Project Mayibuye did not end when the money stopped. The same agenda continued, in different forms, with the attempt to collapse the EFF and to hand its leadership and its members to Jacob Zuma and the MK Party."
Malema said the EFF is considering laying complaints with the SAPS and the Inspector-General of Intelligence.
