Juju Strikes Again: 7 Of Malema's Most Disturbing Comments

Julius Malema has said he is not calling for whites to be killed... 'for now'. It's not the first time he has uttered threats by pretending to disavow them.
Julius Malema.
Julius Malema.
RAJESH JANTILAL via Getty Images

True to form when given the opportunity to be incendiary, EFF leader Julius Malema has once again delivered. This time, in an interview with TRT World, Malema said his party had "not called for the killing of white people... at least for now".

This is not the first time he has made comments like this, and certainly not the first time he has been offensive. Here are seven of his most controversial statements.

'Those who had a nice time...'

In 2009, Malema, then still Jacob Zuma's number-one fan, told 150 students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology that Zuma's rape accuser had a "nice time".

According to The Star, he said, "When a woman didn't enjoy it, she leaves early in the morning. Those who had a nice time will wait until the sun comes out, request breakfast and ask for taxi money... the morning, that lady requested breakfast and taxi money. You can't ask for money from somebody who raped you."

Malema later apologised for the comment.

'Shoot the boer'

In 2011, Malema was found guilty of hate speech for singing the controversial struggle song, "Shoot the Boer". He intended appealing to the Supreme Court of Appeal — while AfriForum and the Transvaal Agricultural Union, which brought the complaint against him, wanted the Equality Court to rule against him, too.

But the parties settled out of court in 2012 and, according to The Star, Malema agreed not to sing the song again — in exchange, all parties dropped their various court challenges.

'Cut the throat of whiteness'

At a rally in Port Elizabeth earlier this year, referring to the EFF attempts to remove Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip, Malema said "we will cut the throat of whiteness". The DA laid charges of hate speech against him.

'Indians worse than Afrikaners'

Malema told a crowd during the EFF's fourth birthday celebrations in 2017 that Indians were "worse than Afrikaners" in the way that they treated black people.

According to News24, he said, "This is not an anti-Indian statement; it's the truth. Indians who own shops don't pay our people, but they give them food parcels."

It's not the first time he had angered Indians. In 2011, as ANC Youth League leader, Malema referred to Indians as "c***ies".

Business Day reported that he said: "Bana ba lena ba tshwanetše ba dumelelwe gore ba tsene sekolo le bana ba makula mona [Your children must be allowed to go to school with c***ie children]."

'Occupy land by force'

Addressing a rally at the Thembalethu Stadium in George in April this year, Malema called on supporters to occupy land illegally, and to use force if necessary. According to Business Day, Malema said those who had no property were seen as subhuman.

He reportedly said, "When we say to the people of SA 'occupy land'‚ we don't say do illegal things. It is your right to have land. I can't go say occupy your house; it belongs to you. You must continue to occupy the land; it is yours.

"[The] majority of black people, where they stay, it was an illegal occupation. You see Soweto‚ they occupied it by force. Today it is the biggest township in Africa. You must continue to occupy by force. We are saying to the people in power; we are serious about land."

'Zille is a cockroach'

In 2010, Malema eerily called Helen Zille a "cockroach" who must be voted out of power. For some, it was a rude but ultimately harmless comment. Former president Kgalema Motlanthe called it "bad manners".

But for many, his remarks were particularly distasteful, as the Rwandan Tutsi minority was famously called "cockroaches" who needed to be "exterminated" before the Rwandan genocide. The politician who made that remark, Leon Mugesera, was sentenced to life in prison in 2016 for incitement to genocide.

'Not slaughtering whites... for now'

Malema's comments in the TRT interview are not new. In 2016, he also said, "We are not slaughtering whites... for now."

Addressing supporters outside the Newcastle Magistrates Court, he said: "The white man has been too comfortable for too long. We are here unashamedly to disturb the white man's peace, because we have not known peace. We don't know what peace looks like. They have been swimming in a pool of privilege. They have been enjoying themselves, because they always owned our land.

"They found peaceful Africans here. They killed them. They slaughtered them like animals. We are not calling for the slaughtering of white people... at least for now. What we are calling for is the peaceful occupation of the land and we don't owe anyone an apology for that... White minorities be warned. We will take our land. It doesn't matter how. It's coming, unavoidable. The land will be taken by whatever means necessary."

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