Police urged to take ‘plot’ against Malema seriously

Allegations about a plot to assassinate EFF leader Julius Malema cannot be ignored and must be acted upon quickly.

This is the view of Africa Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium director Jasmine Opperman.

Opperman said the police did not have the luxury of time and must act to verify the credibility of the information before them.

“If a threat is made against a senior political leader‚ that is serious. That cannot be underplayed,” Opperman said.

“One would assume two things. There will be a look at the security of Julius Malema‚ simultaneously a proper investigation is conducted to get to the facts as quick as possible.

“This process is conducted within the intelligence environment.

“The problem for the police is that they cannot ignore it. The cooperation between Mr Malema and the police is now essential to get to the bottom of who made these threats and are they actually factual‚” she said.

The EFF stepped up its own security after being alerted to a death threat to the commander-in-chief originating in North West.
Spokesman Tebogo Mokwele said individuals in the province “have approached drug dealers and assassins in different provinces” to assassinate Malema.

The party is not taking the threats lightly. Mokwele said the alert to the EFF about the covert plans had come from reliable sources.

Yesterday, Police Minister Bheki Cele’s spokesman Nonkululeko Phokane confirmed that Malema himself had brought the issue to the attention of Cele.

The two had spoken about it and the matter had been handed over to national police commissioner General Khehla Sitole.

Institute for Security Studies board of trustees chairman Jakkie Cilliers said: “It is difficult to comment without knowing where the threats come from.

“But from a distance it appears that these things are more about politics and optics than about anything else.”

Cilliers warned that “one does not know if this is a smart trick of the EFF to raise its profile and create drama or is this real and substantive”.

The EFF in North West wants to table a motion of no confidence against premier Supra Mahumapelo in the provincial legislature.

The EFF has approached the court on an urgent basis for an interdict to compel the speaker to conduct the no-confidence vote by secret ballot. – TimesLIVE