Malema accepts defeat in 29 May elections

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South African opposition leader Julius Malema has admitted defeat in the 29 May 2024 National and Provincial election, after his party, EFF, lost five seats, from 44 to 39.

Malema, who addressed the media on Saturday for the first time after the elections, when more than 99% of voting districts had been accounted for, said the removal of former ANC president Jacob Zuma resulted in an unexplained growth of the EFF in the previous general elections.

He said when Zuma was removed, some of his supporters in the ANC found themselves without a political home and identified with the EFF as their home.

Malema said now that Zuma has returned to politics, they have taken back their votes with the emergence of the MKP. He said:

In every election, there are dynamics. In this election, the emergence of this party. What President Zuma did to us is what ActionSA did in the local government elections in Johannesburg.

Once we became aware that there was a problem called Mashaba, we went and solved that problem. We finished him and you can go ask around. I am sure he is taking quotations for hair products.

Malema said he was happy the ANC supporters have returned home to where they belong. He said:

We accept the results but that does not mean when there is a discrepancy. We can’t raise it. To raise a discrepancy does not mean you reject the results. We also accept defeat.

We found ourselves with votes that we could not explain where they were coming from. Now we understand that these voters were not ours to begin with.

They identified with the EFF as their political home after Jacob Zuma was removed by the ANC, and now that they have returned home.

We are left with our own members. Now we can continue our mission.

Malema also revealed that he would speak to all political parties about forming part of a new government, given that no party secured an outright majority.

Speaking at the IEC Results Operation Centre, at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg, Malema said:

We will engage will all political parties with an appreciation that a government should be constituted within the next 14 days.