By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has become a subject of social media debate for over two days after the party’s 10th-anniversary rally at FNB Stadium on Saturday, where he chanted ‘Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer’ after concluding his speech.
In a post on X, billionaire and owner and CEO of X, formerly known as Twitter Elon Musk bashed Malema for “openly pushing for the genocide of white people in South Africa”.
He also questioned President Cyril Ramaphosa’s silence on the matter.
Malema told the platform owner: “O bolela masepa (Loosely translated as you are talking shit).”
Also on Monday, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen announced that the party would file charges against Malema and the African National Congress (ANC) at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
He said the ANC has to be held accountable for” failure to take action against their one-time protégé even as brutal farm murders continue to escalate in the wake of Malema’s demagoguery”.
The DA will be the second party to take Malema to court over the chant.
Lobby group AfriForum has already lost its case at the Equality Court, which found that AfriForum failed to prove the song constitutes hate speech.
The group lodged its complaint in October 2020 after supporters of the EFF sang “Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer” outside the Senekal Magistrates Court in the Free State, where the accused murderers of farm manager Brendin Horner appeared.
The Equality Court granted AfriForum an opportunity to approach the Supreme Court of Appeal to challenge its judgment.
Malema has also called on the presidents of Brazil, India and China to snub next month’s BRICS Summit in solidarity with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ramaphosa announced a fortnight ago that Putin would not attend the BRICS Summit in person. He said it was a mutual decision.
The 15th BRICS Summit will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre, Joburg, from August 22-24.
It will be the first BRICS Summit hosted in person since the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent global restrictions.
Russia will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in person.
Malema, who has never been afraid to show his hand, said the EFF wanted to see strengthened ties with BRICS.
“We want to make sure that BRICS is strengthened and that BRICS is an alternative to Europe and America. We are with President Putin and we want to say to President Putin, it is not us South Africans who have refused you from coming into the country, it is Ramaphosa. The coward Ramaphosa who could not guarantee we will not arrest Putin. We are Putin, and Putin is us, and we will never support imperialism against President Putin,” Malema said.
He spoke on a range of geopolitical issues and launched into election mode, saying an EFF government would not be afraid to cut ties with the West.
Malema was expelled from the ANC back in 2012 for his divisive comments, partially on foreign affairs matters.
Meanwhile the office of national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola says a senior police officer will investigate Major-General Feroz Khan’s attendance at the EFF’s gala dinner last week.
Khan is the second-in-command of the police’s pivotal Crime Intelligence division.
He attended the EFF’s lavish dinner at Emperor’s Palace, east of the Johannesburg CBD, on Thursday evening.
Policies governing police and their activities prohibit officers from publicly supporting or associating with political parties or movements.
However, the policies do not bar police employees from attending meetings of political parties, provided they don’t wear their uniform while doing so.