Julius Malema President of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is known for his fiery tongue. But this time around when United States President Donald Trump had “ambushed” President Cyril Ramaphosa during a meeting at the Oval Office, the White House, Washington DC with a video of Malema singing “Kill the Boer” his response was more measured. It was somewhat chilling but more measured.
Malema took to X (previously Twitter) to express his disdain, stating, “A group of older men meet in Washington to gossip about me. No significant amount of intelligence evidence has been produced about white genocide. We will not agree to compromise our political principles on land expropriation without compensation for political expediency”. The EFF leader’s comments came after Trump played a documentary featuring Malema singing the Kill the Boer song, which Trump used to call for Malema’s arrest. Ramaphosa condemned the song, stating it didn’t align with South Africa’s stance, and also mentioned the EFF is a minority party with only 9% of the electorate.
Malema was not moved by Trump’s calls for his arrest. However, his words on the Ramaphosa and Trump meeting was still somewhat cool headed if being frighteningly harsh. The EFF party still remains a minority but Trump’s recent demand for Malema’s arrest could shine an (unnecessary) spotlight on the EFFF’s policies. Trump is adding fuel to a fire that doesn’t need to be burned. Malema has taken this gaffe from Trump and spun it to suit his political fortunes. His comment about a group of older men gossiping in Washington, however shows he has a tendency to undermine and be dismissive of even President Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa has lived through the apartheid struggle and being more measured in his approach to land redistribution.
On his X account, Julius Malema slammed calls for his arrest, specifically by US President Donald Trump and the world’s richest man, Pretoria-born businessman Elon Musk. He posted: “You will never put a good man down. I will never be defined by my enemies but by my loyalty to the cries of our people. You will never kill the idea whose time has come.” He added: “Kill me now, cowards.” Malema’s post comes a few hours after he reacted to Trump’s call for him to be arrested. During the meeting, the EFF leader was also criticised by members of the South African delegation, Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen, and billionaire businessman Johann Rupert.
Trump has clearly if unknowingly given the charismatic and bombastic Malema a new platform to rave against concerning the land expropriation issue. Malema wants to be seen as a martyr by his followers at the expense of South Africa’s political and economic progress. Malema’s uncompromising and arrogant attitude will cause an even larger stir due to Trump’s unanswered calls for his arrest. It is ironic that Malema uses X formerly twitter to post his latest rhetoric online given that it is owned by Elon Musk. Malema knows his message would reach a wider grouping of the masses if he were to be arrested or assassinated. At this point given Trump’s latest inflammatory antics he clearly wanted to stir up instability in South Africa. One should always be weary of those who seek to divide and rule.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
