LISTEN | 'No-one wants to kill white people': Malema demands land return

EFF leader Julius Malema has called for peaceful coexistence with white South Africans and insisted they must return “what they stole” through historical land dispossession.

“There is no-one who wants to kill white people. We’re saying to the white people, let’s live together in peace but we can’t live in peace if you don’t give us back what you stole from us. We are not talking about killing anyone,” Malema said, addressing claims of white genocide in South Africa which have been consistently dismissed.

Listen to Malema:

Malema also defended the controversial struggle song “Kill the Boer”, referring to its historical significance. “The song 'Kill the Boer' is not created by Julius Malema. That is a song of the struggle, a song that was sung by our fathers and mothers during difficult days of apartheid and no-one will stop us from singing that song. It is our heritage and we will defend it with everything we have,” he told supporters during a Youth Day address in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday.

The EFF leader’s remarks come amid debates about land reform and the Expropriation Act, which allows expropriation without compensation in specific cases to address historical injustices. The act, signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa in January, triggered much debate.

Malema also criticised Ramaphosa’s diplomacy, referencing a meeting with US President Donald Trump where land reform and white genocide claims were discussed. “Ramaphosa said he will never be bullied by Trump, but when he arrived at the Oval Office he was shaking like a small boy. Ramaphosa has destroyed the dignity of this country internationally and we must restore the dignity of this country,” Malema said.

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