Malema says the EFF regalia is more dignified than that of the ANC.
EFF leader Julius Malema says young people who support the ANC must be ashamed of themselves.
He was speaking in Pretoria on Tuesday at a Youth Day rally.
“You must be so ashamed when you are young and still wear an ANC t-shirt. We should take you to Moria and have them pray for you because clearly these people have bewitched you.
“There is no young person who is sane who will wear an ANC t-shirt. When you see a young person with an ANC t-shirt, have pity on them; they probably forgot to take their medication, they probably did not notice that they are in the wrong t-shirt,” he said.
Malema said the ANC has lost credibility, and wearing ANC regalia in public has become an embarrassment.
“When we walk in public with our EFF t-shirts, we get saluted by people that we do not even know, they say FIGHTER when they see us because we are the hope of the hopeless people of South Africa. We represent the future of South Africa; we are going to deliver economic freedom in our lifetime,” he said.
A political vehicle for the Youth
According to Malema, the EFF is the only party that reflects the aspirations of the majority of black youth.
“Every young person in South Africa belongs to the EFF including those who are wearing ANC t-shirts, they belong to the EFF, we are going to take them from the ANC and show them the direction, they are lost,” he said.
Removing the ANC from power
Malema said he is pleased with the large number of young people who supported his party’s youth day rally at the Union Buildings.
He urged them to register for the upcoming local government elections and get his party in the council chambers of municipalities.
“The youth of 2026 you will decide if you want to be like the 1976 youth but I trust you the way you came here in your numbers you are telling them already that you are going to be like the youth of 1976, we are going to take every campus, we are going to take every university we are going to take every TVET, we are going to take every school,” he said.
Corruption
Despite his party also being associated with nefarious activities and questionable characters in the Madlanga commission, Malema said his party rejects corruption. He told his young supporters to remove the corrupt ANC from municipalities.
“This year, we are rejecting corruption. Every councillor in our community who was corrupt, it’s our turn now to punish that councillor of the ANC. How come the whole family of the councillor they have jobs and next door there is no single person who is working – clearly that is corruption, we must go and stop in on the 4th of November,” he said.
Malema is not the only politician to describe wearing an ANC t-shirt as embarrassing; some of the party’s leaders in KwaZulu-Natal have spoken out about how, in public, wearing ANC regalia used to make them feel proud. But the brand damage to the party has made it difficult for some of them to do door-to-door campaigns in communities.