As corruption claims intensify, in the run-up to the November polls the EFF leader will grapple with public scepticism while trying to reclaim his political momentum.

The latest evidence that EFF leader Julius Malema does not just benefit from alleged criminals but uses his political power to actively aid them makes the mountain he has to climb these local elections much steeper. His protestations that his relationship with deputy SAPS Crime Intelligence head Major-General Feroz Khan was simply that of old friends might fall on the deaf ears of increasingly cynical voters.

While Malema and the EFF burst onto the political scene in the 2014 elections with an agenda of radical change, that message has become increasingly obscured by the corruption claims against him.

The latest evidence, contained in an affidavit from the Madlanga Commission, that he used his power in Parliament to actively help a senior official in the SAPS commit corrupt acts may be impossible to explain away.

What innocent explanation can there be for causing then EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi to ask a question deliberately designed to lead to the removal of the then inspector-general of intelligence, Setlhomamaru Dintwe?

Or for Malema to request from Khan, and then receive, the details of the person who lodged criminal charges in the VBS scandal?

While Malema has not yet responded publicly and personally to...