African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma's dealings with the Gupta family are worse than those of her ex-husband, President Jacob Zuma, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has claimed.

"The [ex-]wife of Zuma, she is worse. The [Gupta] security said Dlamini-Zuma frequents this house like she has her own room,” Malema, who was dressed in a black tuxedo, told an Economic Freedom Fighters gala dinner at Montecasino on Saturday night.

He was referring to a report in Friday’s Mail & Guardian, which was based on interviews with some of the Gupta family’s former bodyguards.

“Dlamini-Zuma receiving that award legitimised the Guptas. Yet we say she is better than Zuma. She is not."

Dlamini-Zuma is rumoured to be contesting the position of African National Congress (ANC) leader once Zuma's term ended. In 2015, Gupta-owned broadcaster ANN7, named her “South African of the Year”.

Her spokesperson, Jacob Enoh Eben, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Malema launched the EFF's election manifest at a packed Orlando Stadium in Soweto earlier on Saturday.

Zuma afraid of jail

His wide-ranging address included threats against Zuma, suggestions for improved municipal services – including houses better suited for "touching" between parents – a diatribe against bicycle lanes, the promotion of reading, rhetoric on land redistribution, and a recitation of the EFF's parliamentary achievements.

Malema told the gala dinner on Saturday night that he could pick apart any ANC leader, and that there was nobody with the ability to lead the party. He said he had once considered that Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor could do the job, but had since changed his mind.

“The candidates now are Dlamini-Zuma and Baleka Mbete. Mbete? We are gone," he said, referring to the ANC’s chairperson and National Assembly Speaker.

Taking another jab at Zuma, Malema said: "Zuma is afraid of prison, but he steals. The man can see jail. Zuma is going to jail, it is unavoidable.

"The people who are protecting Zuma, they do this because he is still in office. The day he goes, we are going to hear the truth about what happened in Nkandla. That house is not worth R250-million."