On Saturday, the leader of South Africa’s third largest political party addressed a full Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, which seats 56,000 people.
Julius Malema, who unveiled the EFF’s electoral manifesto, restated his allegiance to the people of Palestine and claimed support for Russia, claiming that “NATO is disguising itself as Ukraine”.
“We thank you, the people of South Africa, for loving the people of Palestine. Continue to show them love against apartheid Israel. Russia is our home and…Palestinian is our home, and Palestinians must know they’ve got a home in South Africa. We will never retreat. We are not scared of the Jewish power.”
The leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being a “warlord”.
The Israeli war cabinet’s military campaign in Gaza has killed over 27,000 Palestinians and injured over 66,000.
“The Palestinian people do not oppose the Jewish nation. The Palestinians do not want to slaughter Jewish women and children. The Palestinians desire self-determination. If anyone is killing innocent people, it is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He’s a warlord, an international criminal, and he has to be charged.”
The date for this year’s general election has yet to be announced.
The Economic Freedom Fighters’ key concerns are land redistribution and the country’s electricity crisis.
Their tagline was announced as “Jobs and Land Now!” “Stop load shedding.”
Popular among the youth
The EFF is popular among many disgruntled South Africans, particularly young people, because of its radical ideas, which include the expropriation of white-owned land and the nationalization of mines and banks.
Malema declared the Economic Freedom Fighters’ motto for the next elections: “Jobs and land now!” “Stop load shedding.”
Malema, a former ANC youth leader who was expelled before founding his own party, is one of the ruling party’s harshest critics and an outspoken politician who has become a thorn in the side of the ANC and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The party received 10% of the national vote in the 2019 elections, becoming the country’s third largest opposition party.
Malema stated that the party will end the power outages that are now affecting the country’s economy and would create jobs through, among other things, the development of social housing and road infrastructure.
He also promised to imprison corrupt politicians and public officials, as well as to provide incentives for police officers to combat the country’s high crime rate.
