Julius Malema has a soft spot for Pastor Mmusi Maimane but little respect for politician Mmusi Maimane.
Malema believes the good working relationship the two have would have been impossible if Helen Zille was still DA leader.
"Helen Zille suffers from white supremacy and it's not only her problem. It's a problem of all white people, including my friends," he said during an interview this week.
I ask if his views about Maimane - that he was not in charge of his own party - have changed.
"I still hold that view. He is a nice guy umfundisi. He is a black guy. He is from the township.
"Helen Zille is in charge. It's not Mmusi who made Helen apologise; it's us. When we made the threat she thought: 'This thing is going to go in my name, I can't allow that.' So it's not Mmusi.
"Mmusi struggled until Malema spoke. Why would Mmusi struggle and only succeed after Malema spoke, if Mmusi is that powerful? If you see James Selfe and that chief whip [John Steenhuisen] in a meeting, then you know real decisions are going to be taken between us and these people."
Nine months before last year's local government elections, the two had nothing good to say about each other on these pages.
Malema was not impressed by the DA sanction against its MP Dianne Kohler Barnard, and Maimane ruled out working with the EFF.
Leading up to the elections, they kept us guessing about whether they would agree on an arrangement that could take the ANC out of power in key municipalities.
The rest is history. Behind-the-scenes talks between their parties gave the DA the majority to take over the Tshwane, Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela Bay metros.
Since then the two have led the most effective opposition in the history of democratic South Africa.
Under their leadership, the opposition has applied pressure on the growing kleptocratic ANC government, using different but equally effective strategies.
Maimane and his MPs have used question time in parliament to expose President Jacob Zuma as an unaccountable leader. They kept asking difficult questions even if the only answer was a giggle.
Malema's troops employed a destructive yet effective strategy whenever Zuma was shielded from accountability. Their chants inside the National Assembly that Zuma pay back the money on Nkandla raised public alarm about the looting.
This led to parliament no longer rubber-stamping government decisions without scrutiny.
Malema and Maimane do not have be to be friends to form a strong alliance.
But Malema's strong criticism of Maimane can only be read as part of his strategy not to appear to be too close to the DA leader. By doing so he would not alienate those voters who regard the DA as a white party and Maimane as a sellout.
So will he keep us guessing? Is Maimane his friend or foe?
