Malema ‘unapologetic’ on comments
EFF leader Julius Malema remains “unapologetic” over his comments on land and racism.
Malema appeared at the Newcastle Magistrate’s Court, charged with the apartheid-era law of riotous incitement after calling on his supporters to occupy land. The case was postponed to February 25 next year.
Outside the court, Malema addressed EFF supporters and reiterated his call for the expropriation of land without compensation.
“Unemployment in South Africa is as a result of lack of land, and racism is also because of the land. There will never be jobs without land. If you want to open a salon, you need land ,” he said.
He said that the EFF’s fight for land was because people without property were not respected.
“We are fighting for your dignity so you can walk around with confidence… That is what property does,” he said.
In June 2016, he told supporters in Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal to occupy land as it belonged to the black people.
His legal team is disputing the constitutionality of the Riotous Assembly Act and has accused the State of using “apartheid-era laws” to try to silence him. Malema said the Freedom Charter said people should occupy land wherever they choose to do so, and it was the same Riotous Assembly Act under which Nelson Mandela had been charged.
“What is funny enough is that the ANC is using the same law that was used by the apartheid (government) against them,” he said. About the backlash after he publicly claimed that Indians hated Africans, Malema said he was not in a fight with Indians but was merely pointing out that Indians were “oppressed better” than Africans.
He said that Indians lived in “close proximity with whites” and had water, electricity and schools. He urged his supporters to “not succumb to the superiority” of white and Indian people.
“If they take us to court for what we say and the courts want to silence us, let them do it… let’s see if that is sustainable. People must be allowed to speak. We are already divided now, and only the truth will unite us. We cannot have artificial unity. Fighters, don’t be scared to tell the truth. Don’t be apologetic when you fight for Africans because they were more oppressed,” he said.
Political analyst Thabani Khumalo said Malema’s charge that a majority of Indians were racist towards Africans was “highly incorrect” and showed that he did not understand race relations in KZN. “In KZN Indians and Africans have been living side by side for many years. Yes there are some elite Indians that don’t know what it is like to be oppressed or live with Africans, but the Indian masses experienced the same hardships as Africans,” Khumalo said.