The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has warned the ANC to stop pushing them away because they would need their support when the going gets tougher in the Government of National Unity (GNU). Julius Malema, the ANC's leader, told journalists in Johannesburg on Monday that the party should not loosely define itself as independent.

This is after the acting president Gwede Mantashe, who is also a Minerals Minister, said he was not sure if opting for the MK Party and EFF would be a better option because they were hostile to the ANC. Mantashe said leaving the Democratic Alliance (DA) for the EFF and MKP was like leaving the devil to run into the fire. He stated, "You are going to burn in any way." “You know Gwede … they must not just speak loosely, things are not working here, you don’t just speak like you have power. He cannot speak because he lacks the numbers.

There’s going to be a motion of no confidence against the President [Cyril Ramaphosa] and I can tell you, they are going to come to us, running the same way they did on the budget process,” Malema said. Malema stated that the ANC needed the EFF even more. This is because the GNU is experiencing a leadership crisis. The DA and ANC have been at loggerheads over how the government should run, with the blue party challenging a few of the policies that the ANC is implementing. The DA recently took the Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, to court to challenge the proposed 0.5% Value Added Tax (VAT), arguing that this would be unfair to citizens. But Godongwana has since reversed the decision and the court has also suspended the hike.