Julius Malema And Jacob Zuma Set To Meet Over Tea Today

Ex South African  president Jacob Zuma and EFF leader Julius Malema are set to hold talks  on Friday at Nkandla after the former president  accepted the invitation  for a meeting over a cup of tea.

Recall that Malema set tongues wagging on Wednesday when he tagged Zuma on Twitter with the request: “@PresJGZuma can we please have tea urgently.”

The request was gracefully accepted by the Zu The countdown in motion a seismic event in the South African political landscape because the meeting comes as Zuma has defied a Constitutional Court ruling in which he is ordered to appear before the State Capture Commission of Inquiry.

On Thursday, when contacted for comment on the details around the meeting, Ekurhuleni mayor and close Zuma ally Mzwandile Masina said: “I’ll be in attendance, I don’t know what will be discussed.”

In a tweet on Wednesday, Masina said that the tea session between Zuma and Malema would be interesting.

“I’m sure the two men who contributed to the constitutional being of SA will provide a grate (sic) insight of how mature our democracy has become. Countdown starts now, keep you posted!!!!” Masina said.

The request for the meeting by Malema came as a surprise to many South Africans on Twitter, due to the fractured history between the two men who were once close allies in the ANC.

During his time as ANC criticized president, a firebrand Malema was a die-hard Zuma loyalist who had organizations or the party’s presidency in the lead up to the ANC’s 52nd national conference in Polokwane.

Malema had even once infamously declared in 2008 that: “We are prepared to die for Zuma, we’re prepared to take up arms and kill for Zuma”. Zuma himself had endorsed Malema as a worthy future leader of the ANC.

However, relations between the two soured when the ANC’s senior leadership in 2011 charged Malema and his Youth League officials for sowing division within the ANC and bringing the party into disrepute.

After forming the EFF and gaining entry into the National Assembly, Malema fiercely criticised Zuma as head of state and was amongst many parties and civil society organisations that pushed for Zuma’s eventual resignation as president in February 2018.

Vusi Khoza, EFF KZN chairperson, said that he was not privy to the reasons for Malema’s request for the meeting.

“They have a long history between them, Msholozi will always be regarded as a father to all of us, and there’s nothing wrong with meeting him.