Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has incited his followers to continue the violence and looting should the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) be deployed in support of the police. Even as President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke in a televised address to the nation on Monday, illegally armed, violent marauding mobs were challenging law enforcement.
With harsh Level-4 Covid-19 lockdown regulations, Malema saw a unique opportunity to campaign on the side of “the people”. In a tweet, after it was announced that the SANDF would be deployed to Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal to support the South African Police Service (SAPS), Malema called on the EFF to “be ready” to join rioters and looters.
“No soldiers on our streets! Otherwise, we are joining. All fighters must be ready… they won’t kill us all. We need a political solution to a political problem, not soldiers,” he said. The EFF’s “political solution” has been to rid the country of whites. A racial war remains the only viable strategy for the EFF to unite warring black tribes.
Malema denounced the lame-duck Ramaphosa as “incompetent and useless”. He said that the violence stemmed from “factional warfare within the political party, and have now turned into rolling mass-actions by thousands of poor South Africans”.
At a press conference on Monday, ANC Deputy Secretary-General Jessie Duarte acknowledged that tribal faction disputes within the ANC ruling party have sparked the riots. She also admitted that the violence has now spun out of the party’s control in especially two provinces, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Duarte did not comment on Malema inciting more violence, other than saying these acts should be reported to the police. The police however appear to have lost control of the situation with many officers filmed as they join looting parties. According to the EFF, Ramaphosa is running the country from “behind a television screen”. Being from the small Venda tribe, the puppet president has no popular support, with both former President Jacob Zuma and Malema now exploiting that fact.
Last year Freedom Front Plus leader Dr Pieter Groenewald pointed out how this kind of incitement and irresponsible statements by Malema were playing a significant role in anti-white farm attacks and murders. “Julius Malema must be held personally liable because he is openly advocating hate and violence […] He even condoned the notion of a civil war.”
“This incitement stirs up supporters and makes them behave recklessly, as was the case with the countrywide Clicks protests,” said Groenewald. In June 2018, Malema gained notoriety when he was asked by a Citizen reporter whether he was responsible for organizing gang members to murder white farmer. He responded “Maybe. Maybe not.”
Black editorialist Prince Machela from The Sowetan summed up the situation: “We must all thank Zuma for revealing our true African character; that the idea of rule of law is not part of who we are, and that constitutionalism is a concept far ahead of us as a people. Now that we have reclaimed our place as another African country, we must reflect on and come to terms with our real character, and imagine what our future portends.
“In a typical African country, ordinary people don’t expect much of politicians, because people get tired of repeated empty promises.
“In a typical African country, people have no illusions about the unity of morality and governance. People know that those who have power, have it for themselves and their friends and families.”
Machela continued: “This country will not look like Denmark. It might look like Nigeria, where anti-corruption crusaders are an oddity. Being an African country, ours will not look like Germany. SA might look like Kenya, where tribalism drives politics. People must not entertain the illusion that a day is coming when SA will look like the USA. Our future is more on the side of Zimbabwe, where one ruler is more powerful than the rest of the population. Even if Julius Malema were to become president, it would still be the same.”
Recently, a new legislative proposal to ban especially white South Africans from getting gun licences for the purpose of self defence, will include restrictions on hunters and sport shooters, reported by Business Insider South Africa.
The draft law summary published by the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service (CSP) revealed that the ANC wanted to ensure that “no firearm licenses may be issued for self-defence purposes”.