Julius Malema says he has not called for the murder of white people, "at least for now."
In an interview with TRT World, published on Monday, Malema said he could not guarantee what would happen in the future, and warned that a revolution would happen if things continued as they are now.
"I'm saying to you, we've not called for the killing of white people, at least for now. I can't guarantee the future."
Asked by the presenter if he understood that to some this might sound like a "genocidal call", Malema responded, "Cry babies, cry babies!"
"I can't give you a guarantee of the future," he repeated. "Especially when things are going the way they are.
"If things are going the way they are, there will be a revolution in this country. I can tell you now. There will be an unled revolution in this country, and an unled revolution is the highest form of anarchy," Malema said.
It is in contradiction to statements made this year, where Malema seemed to turn down the rhetoric on white people. In April, Malema told an EFF memorial event for Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in Bloemfontein that land would be taken back from white people without bloodshed.
According to Business Day, he said: "There is no case in South Africa of any white person killed because of the land... there is no case in South Africa of any white person forced out of his own property. Not even by EFF. What we did as the EFF is to occupy the unoccupied land, we do it peacefully there is no problem... we are passing time with empty land."
Outside the Bloemfontein magistrates' court a few days earlier, where he had appeared on hate speech charges, Malema said white people would not be "driven into the sea".
According to News24, he said: "South Africa would be boring without whites. They have naturalised. It's like waking up one day and there are no trees. They are part of SA, but they must share the land.
"We won't chase you into the sea."
The full TRT World episode can be seen here: