Two weeks ago, Malema and his Economic Freedom Fighters handed over a two- bedroom house to Sthandiwe Hlongwane. She is married to a senior state official who earns about R250000 a year and owns at least two other homes. Hlongwane and her husband, Lucky Nene, 60, who tied the knot in July last year, also own a VW Polo and a Hilux bakkie. But Malema said on Friday that he was convinced that Hlongwane was an unmarried mother with two children, aged three and five. The party was inspired to help Hlongwane after seeing newspaper photographs of what it thought was her house. The photographs were taken when the Democratic Alliance attempted to visit President Jacob Zumas R208-million homestead in November 2012. Hlongwane, who shares a house with her husband and their children elsewhere in the village, last year took Malema to the dilapidated home where she was raised. Hlongwane showed us the house she was staying in before we built her the new house. What we saw for ourselves was extremely touching. We could not have allowed our black sister with her children to stay in that situation, said Malema. According to the EFF, the mud house was unstable and had gaping cracks. Asked why she had accepted the EFFs offer and whether the party was aware that her family was not cash-strapped, Hlongwane said : They just wanted to help a poor family. Nene, who until recently worked for the Ulundi municipality before starting his new post as a senior archivist for the provincial department of arts and culture, denied his family had misled the EFF into believing they were poverty-stricken. The couple also own a 338m² house in Ulundi, bought for R122000 in 2008. Nene said when his wife was offered the house, he tried to consult his neighbour, Zuma. We wanted to ask the president for advice, but unfortunately he was not at home, he said. The couple then tried to speak to Zumas wife Sizakele MaKhumalo. We were expecting her to say that she would consult Zuma for his opinion, said Nene. Hlongwane also consulted local ANC councillor Sibongiseni Bhengu and local chief Bhekumuzi Zuma before accepting the EFF offer. Asked why they eventually accepted the EFFs offer, Nene said: It was clear that she [Hlongwane] was not going to get any help from anyone [to rebuild her familys home] and so had no other choice but to accept the offer. I supported her decision. During the handover, Malema and his supporters were pelted with rocks. The police intervened, using truncheons, a water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 08:26:15 +0000
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