South Africa’s opposition Economic Freedom Fighters party leader Julius Malema has demanded that much of the country’s arable land currently in the hands of the white minority should be returned to black owners without any compensation.
In a video message to supporters to commemorate the EFF’s 7th anniversary on Sunday, Malema said the party was formed to right the wrongs of British colonialism and the subsequent white minority rule under apartheid which ended in 1994.
Malema repeated the EFF’s goals, including “expropriation of land without compensation for equal redistribution, nationalisation of strategic sectors of the economy, free healthcare, education, and housing, and protected industrial development.”
“We want our land back. We want our economy back. We want to be allowed to decide the fate of Africa, on our own terms, and without any imperialist supervision,” Malema said.
He told supporters that “the party, born as a response to the inhumane conditions confronting Africans today, our movement is no longer a baby, but a force to be reckoned with that has shaped the politics of this country and the African continent.”
“Colonialists resolved that we (Africans) are less than humans because of the colour of our skins and the different ways in which we organise our African societies,” the politician said.
NM/jn/APA