Malema on Afriforum case against Zindzi: 'We will defend her with everything'

09 July 2019 - 10:57 By Unathi Nkanjeni
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EFF leader Julius Malema.
EFF leader Julius Malema.
Image: Thulani Mbele/Sowetan

EFF leader Julius Malema has again made it clear that he has Zindzi Mandela-Hlongwane's back.

This comes after TimesLIVE reported that Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum laid hate speech charges against Mandela-Hlongwane, SA's ambassador to Denmark, at the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on Monday.

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Earlier this year, Mandela-Hlongwane created a stir on social media after her "apartheid apologists" and "land thieves" tweets went viral.

She was heavily criticised for her potentially "divisive" comments. AfriForum called for her to be recalled and dismissed and now it lodged a complaint.

In a statement on Monday, AfriForum deputy CEO Alana Bailey said Mandela-Hlogwane bore witness to a hate-bearing attitude towards white people in the country.

Bailey added that her defence that she was entitled to her personal opinion demonstrated a complete lack of insight into her responsibility as ambassador to promote the image of SA and to serve all South Africans without prejudice.

Taking to Twitter, Malema said: "We will defend her with everything."

This is not the first time that Malema and his party has extended its support to Mandela-Hlongwane.

On June 18, the party dismissed AfriForum's calls, saying it was "in full support" of everything Mandela-Hlongwane said on Twitter, adding that she had every right to air her views on the land issue.

"No African child must ever be suppressed or even threatened with losing any job or privileges for speaking the truth about the land. The land question must be resolved for true decolonisation of our country to happen.

"There is nothing racist by stating the correct fact that white people drove a racist project of land dispossession called colonisation. Through colonisation they also gained cultural, religious and educational superiority, whilst suppressing and demonising Africans."


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