
Pambo pours cold water over Malema’s Nkandla visit, says it was just for a cup of tea
Thabisile Khomo
Speculation about the core agenda of EFF leader, Julius Malema’s sudden visit to former President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead in northern KwaZulu-Natal on Friday were entirely dismissed by the party’s spokesman Vuyani Pambo.
Briefing the media outside the Zuma homestead a couple of hours after the party’s Commander in Chief had arrived in a chopper with his entourage, Pambo said there was no any other agenda besides a cup of tea.
“Stop speculating as that will confuse you. The meeting was only about a cup of tea as per the invite. The tea was very sweet and hot, and the mood was very nice,” he said.
Refusing to let the cat out of the bag, Pambo insisted that he was the only national spokesperson of the EFF and his comment was final.
“There is not any other person who speaks after me. Anything you may have heard from any other person cannot be true if I do not say so myself,” he said.
Pambo also refused to comment on the media questions about the presence of Malema’s entourage, saying he was only the EFF spokesperson.
Earlier in the week, it came as a shock to many people when Malema requested a meeting over a cup of tea with Zuma, his well known political rival who surprisingly accepted the request.
Besides Pambo’s presence, Malema came with the legal guru, Advocate Dali MMpofu and the Ekurhuleni Mayor Mzwandile Masina, the meeting facilitator who came separately in car.
Although it has not been confirmed but speculations were that the main purpose of the meeting had to do with Zuma’s defiance of the Constitutional Court ruling and refusal to cooperate with the Zondo Commission of Enquiry that looks into allegations of state capture.
This magazine reported earlier in the week that Zuma, who’s expected to appear before the commission on February 15, issued a media statement through his foundation, saying no further cooperation with the commission should be expected from him.
In a lengthy statement, he said it was the chairman of the commission Deputy Chief Justice Zondo that he was not willing to work with, citing bias and history of personal relations with him as reasons.
His response came after the Constitutional Court compelled him last week to appear before the commission and answer all the questions posed to him.