Seven tweets from Julius Malema that raised eyebrows in 2019
EFF leader Julius Malema's controversial tweets grabbed headlines this year.
Malema, who has more than 2.6 million followers, offended organisations and left many of his supporters questioning their decisions to vote for his party.
Here are seven tweets from Malema:
Violence against whites
Earlier this year, Malema posted a video of controversial US activist Louis Farrakhan and called on black people to use violence against white people to rectify injustices.
Amen 👇🏿 pic.twitter.com/BatyrCwyQ7
— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) July 8, 2018
White monopoly
In September, Afrikaans lobby group AfriForum condemned what it called the incitement of “violence against minorities” by Malema. This after Malema said Africans were selling “cheap labour for survival” and "owners of our wealth is white monopoly capital".
Our anger is directed at wrong people. Like all of us, our African brothers & sisters are selling their cheap labour for survival. The owners of our wealth is white monopoly capital; they are refusing to share it with us & the ruling party #ANC protects them.#OneAfricaIsPossible
— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) September 3, 2019
Mugabe tribute
Malema caused outrage when he posted a slide show of quotes from late Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe, including one which read: “The only white man you can trust is a dead white man.”
The post was reported to Twitter, but the social media platform ruled that Malema's tweet was not a “violation of any Twitter rules”.
Rest in power #GUSHUNGO pic.twitter.com/TQk5bQaTKe
— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) September 14, 2019
Best way to kill racists is to be happy
In October, he took a dig at VBS Mutual Bank scandal allegations, calling for “black unity” in his party.
Malema also told his supporters to “kill racists” with “black success”.
Let them show their true colors, kill them #JUJU. #Racist don’t want to see us happy and United fellow fighters, let’s kill them with black success. #Asijiki #Kubo #BlackUnity pic.twitter.com/0Rb22ZJqUn
— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) October 17, 2019
Ugly white males
At the beginning of November, he took a dig at Agri SA members when responding to a media briefing on the drought.
Rather than addressing the issues, Malema called those hosting the meeting “ugly white males” who “own the land”.
Just look at this ugly picture of white males, a clear indication of who owns the land in our country. #OurLand
— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) November 13, 2019
Support for Burna Boy
Malema proclaimed his support for Nigerian rapper Burna Boy, who said he would never perform in SA because of xenophobic violence.
Looking forward to receiving and being entertained by my brother @burnaboy here at his home called South Africa. There's no mascot that can stop him from performing, he's one of our own and we will protect him. We must resolutely oppose regionalism led by political illiterates.
— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) November 14, 2019
Bed-wetting boys
Despite outrage at his support for the artist, Malema stuck to his views and said he would not be intimidated by "bed-wetting boys".
I won't be intimidated or blackmailed by bed wetting boys, welcome home @burnaboy. South Africa is a home for all Africans, kill me for defending an African brother, bloody Cowards.
— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) November 15, 2019