“Leave your tractors before going to Oz”
Malema denies that EFF is killing white farmers
EFF leader Julius Malema says whites who want to migrate to Australia because of unhappiness with the land reform policies should go but leave “resources” behind.
Addressing thousands of EFF supporters in Ermelo, Mpumalanga, yesterday during the Human Rights Day celebrations, Malema said those who want to leave SA should hand over the land to the “rightful owners”.
This follows Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton saying he wanted to fast-track visas for white South African farmers to his country, claiming they were facing “horrific circumstances” of land seizures and violence.
“I want white people, but they must bring back the land. Now Australia says Malema and the EFF want to kill white farmers [and] they must come to Australia, fair enough.
“If they want to go, they must go. [But] if they leave, they must leave keys to the tractors because we want to work the land. They must leave the keys of [their] houses because we want to stay in those houses,” Malema said to a round of applause.
“A racist country like Australia says the white farmers are being killed in South Africa when we are not killing them.
“We are saying, ‘come here white man, let’s talk, we want the land and we will give you peace and then we take a bigger portion because we are from here [South Africa]’.”
It’s not the first time Malema has made what could be interpreted as racist rants.
In 2011 and in July last year, during the party’s fourth anniversary celebrations in Durban Malema made racial slurs against Indians, accusing them of monopolising the economy, racism and exploiting black workers.
In an unexpected move yesterday, Malema lashed at his deputy Floyd Shivambu, saying he should stop assaulting journalists.
This is after Shivambu was caught on camera manhandling Media24 journalist Adrian de Kock in Cape Town this week.
Malema told Shivambu to respect media freedom. “No journalists must feel threatened by the EFF, whether it’s the reactionary eNCA or not, let us not threaten them.”
Shivambu released a statement shortly after the attack and apologised for his actions and acknowledged he was in the wrong.
However, De Kock said he plans to lay a criminal charge of assault against Shivambu.