Johannesburg - The Economic Freedom Fighters believe that the troop of armed policemen who inexplicably stopped their leader, Julius Malema, in Sandton at the weekend, were trying to intimidate him.
"The EFF takes this as a clear act of intimidation and demonstration that the enemy is following our CIC Julius Malema around," said party spokesperson, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.
Malema had allegedly been stopped by a white unmarked van at the Grayston Drive offramp on Sunday night, and was then surrounded by around 10 police vehicles.
"The police then all came out pointing guns at his car and forced him out. The entire intersection at the Grayston Drive offramp was blocked, isolating him from the rest of the traffic," Ndlozi said.
"The CIC [commander-in-chief] Julius Malema got out and the police all did nothing, claiming it was a mistake. He forced his way around the police cars, driving over the pavements and drove off," Ndlozi said.
Malema had been travelling from Soweto where he had attended the party's manifesto launch preparatory meeting. Ndlozi said he believed Malema had been followed from the meeting.
He said government was using other tactics after they failed in pursuing criminal charges against Malema, and he was instead victorious in the Constitutional Court against President Jacob Zuma. The court ruled that Zuma was in breach of the Constitution and should adhere to the remedial actions set out by the Public Protector after she found he had unduly benefited from upgrades done at his Nkandla homestead which were done using taxpayers money.
"The people of South Africa and the world must know that the regime is turning violent," Ndlozi said.
When News24 spoke to Gauteng police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini on Sunday night, he said he was not aware of the incident as it was not immediately clear whether a case had been opened with the police.
EFF statement on the police harassment of the CIC @Julius_S_Malema | https://t.co/CSADn2t8VE
— EFF Official Account (@EFFSouthAfrica) April 3, 2016
Police just harassed our CIC @Julius_S_Malema at the Grayston Drive Offramp. 10 cars all out pointing guns at him pic.twitter.com/wrTYxaVeIt
— EFF Official Account (@EFFSouthAfrica) April 3, 2016
Just survived police harassment at Grayston off-ramp,12 police men pointed me with rifles and forced me out of the car...
— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) April 3, 2016
