Julius Malema. Picture: Zwelizwe Ndlovu/ANA Pics
President of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Julius Malema has been the talk of the town lately.
This comes after threatening to unleash the “mother of all protests” which he said would bring South Africa to a standstill on March 20, as the opposition pressurises the government to end load shedding.
Earlier this week Malema posted a video message on the party’s social media accounts calling on everyone who is unemployed, concerned about load shedding, crime, corruption, and gender-based violence, to join the shutdown to show that they are tired.
Addressing the media on Wednesday on their plans as a political party for the national shutdown on Monday, he made an example of how load shedding has affected businesses, including KFC.
“Small businesses have closed because they don't have electricity. Let's take KFC for instance - I don't eat KFC, it smells badly, so don't think I eat KFC because I talk about it - they have generators outside but when it's load-shedding they don't switch on the generators they close the doors, Malema said.
Mara Julius Malema is beefing with KFC. Guys what’s wrong with KFC smell? 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/szNTe5PGv4
— m a s h è s h a 💨 (@_mashesha) March 17, 2023
Within minutes, his statement reached the Twitter streets, with people sharing jokes and memes about what he said.
Here are some of the reactions:
Julius Malema "I don't eat KFC. It smells bad. "
— Eusebius McKaiser (@Eusebius) March 15, 2023
Hahaha
Quick ... @NandosSA, where is your clever response? 😀 pic.twitter.com/IRu4U9CCIl
Julius Malema: I don’t eat KFC, it smells bad. pic.twitter.com/VA80GAcZeW
— Man’s NOT Barry Roux (@AdvoBarryRoux) March 15, 2023
Late last year KFC South Africa announced that some of its restaurants would be temporarily closed due to the ongoing load shedding.
Taking to social media, they wrote: “We are sorry, but due to the ongoing load shedding, some of our restaurants will be temporarily closed, while others may have limited availability on some of your favourite menu items. We apologise for the inconvenience and will be back soon.”
The restaurant said load shedding is impacting the supply of some of their restaurants and menu items and that they are working hard to sort out all the constraints with their suppliers.
The news did not sit well with chicken lovers, as many commented, asking the restaurant chain if they could not make alternatives. Some foodies even went as far as giving the restaurant ideas on what they could do.