THE ECONOMIC Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema says his party is not in Parliament for personal gain, but to serve the people and hold those in power accountable.
He was addressing a large crowd of supporters in Site B, Khayelitsha, on Saturday, 26 July as the party marked its 12th birthday.
"Today, as we mark twelve years of unbroken revolutionary commitment, we stand not only to celebrate the founding of the Economic Freedom Fighters, but to reaffirm the reason we exist: to fight fearlessly," said Malema.
He said the EFF has consistently challenged wrongdoing in Parliament and refused to be a rubber stamp for the executive.
Looking at some of the party's actions over the past five years, Malema said they exposed the attempt to cover up the Phala Phala scandal.
He reminded supporters that when Parliament failed to act on the findings of the Section 89 report, which found that President Cyril Ramaphosa may have violated the Constitution, the EFF took the matter to the Constitutional Court.
He said: "No one, not even the President, is above the law."
Malema also spoke about the high cost of mobile data and its impact on poor communities, students, and job seekers. He said the party did not sit back while this issue got worse.
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"We took on mobile networks directly, we raised the issue in Parliament, and we called on ICASA to do its job," he said.
According to Malema, the EFF called for legislation to ban the unfair practice of data and airtime expiry.
He added that the party also demanded free Wi-Fi in all public spaces, saying that access to information is now a basic human right.
He cited the awarding of the National Lottery licence to Sizekhaya Holdings, allegedly linked to Deputy President Paul Mashatile, as an example of the EFF's vigilance.
"Fighters, we are not in Parliament to eat. We are in Parliament to fight. We are there to show that opposition does not mean weakness, it means holding the line when everyone else folds," said Malema.
The EFF was founded in 2013 and is now the third-largest party in South Africa's Parliament. Its MPs are known for challenging the government, often through heated debates and disruptive action in the House.
Malema said this track record proves the EFF is not in politics for personal benefit but to defend the interests of ordinary South Africans.
