Threatening cops is a no-go

Will attacking a black officer in front of his wife and children bring an end to police brutality, unfair treatment and racially structured policing?

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has been painting news headlines red, giving newsmakers click-bait content nearly every week for the past few months. This time, leader Julius Malema has showered social media news feeds yet again for his utterances and threats to members of the South African Police Service.

It has been over a month since Malema and thousands of his supporters went to protect state property and police premises in Senekal in the Free State following violent attacks and vandalism by angry white farmers.

Malema returned to the same province on Sunday but with a different stance – to spew threats and anger at the men and women in blue. “If South African police want a fight, they must declare it. We will treat them the same way we treated them in the ’80s,” he told the Mohokare community.

The leader of the red berets was responding to what appeared to be unfair treatment of his members during a protest against racism in Brackenfell, Cape Town. In yet another, much larger, protest by the EFF on Friday against a “whites only” matric farewell party for pupils at Brackenfell High School, public order police launched teargas, water cannons and stun grenades at Malema’s supporters.

The force police used to disperse the EFF protesters was apparently because, despite their demonstration being legal, they had started “too early” and way more protesters than initially agreed upon were present.

However, at the other end there were residents and members of a political party, who seemed to remain untouched by the police.

Commenting on the clash, political analyst Jamie Mighti highlighted that Steve Biko would have referred to the police’s use of force as “inferiority that is imposed and transposed onto black bodies and it manifests itself in structural treatment”.

Malema flagged this discriminatory treatment by police at the Marikana massacre memorial in 2013, when he said the police remained “the enemy of our people”.

“You have massacred our people. You have butchered our people... They had to run around the mountain, running away from the police,” he said at the memorial.

Unfair and sometimes brutal treatment by police during the lockdown was also more prevalent in black communities.

Malema accused the police of being scared of the white farmers in Senekal last month – sitting back while white farmers burned their vehicles. “No single rubber bullet shot. Can you imagine if it was black people?” read his caption to a video showing them trying to overturn a police Nyala.

But this past Sunday, Malema challenged the police in their personal capacity, hinting at targeting their families too.

“We will go to their homes and fight them in their own houses with their own families... We will see you after you take off your uniform, at night, at home,” he said.

Despite the evidence of police giving preferential treatment based on race, is the call to target their families warranted? Will attacking a black officer in front of his wife and children bring an end to police brutality, unfair treatment and racially structured policing?