Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has called for the Zimbabwean Embassy in South Africa to be closed immediately. His comments come at a time when the human rights of Zimbabweans are being violated by security forces.
There’s been a violent reaction to the protest by the forces and arrests of some of the prominent voices in those protests.
The Zimbabwean government has taken lightly to the EFF’s criticism of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration.
Julius Malema was once a staunch ally of ZANU-PF in Zimbabwe and its late former President Robert Mugabe.
Malema moulded his politics around Zimbabwe’s radical land reform program of land expropriation without compensation. But that relationship would sour when Malema labelled ZANU-PF leaders cowards for being afraid to tell late President Robert Mugabe to step down.
“They can respond and insult us anyhow they want. But they are a group of cowards those comrades in ZANU-PF to be scared to say to an old man like President Mugabe with due respect. Please let go. Fidel Castro let go and President Mugabe must let go.”
At the highlight of Mnangagwa’s political challenge to lead ZANU-PF, he was exiled to South Africa after being removed as Deputy President by long-time President Robert Mugabe.
His return was spectacular after the party resolved to remove the late former President.
Mnangagwa went on to win the election as President and Malema congratulated him. “We call upon President Mnangagwa to serve one term. He is too old. We hope President Mnangagwa will not want to go for a second term. Let ZANU-PF produces younger leaders to compete with Chamisa.”
But Malema quickly changed his tune on Mnangagwa and his administration for giving white farmers bailouts.
“Mnangagwa is a sellout. He must know that he is a sellout. We thought he was going to bring fresh air in Zimbabwe but he is worse than what Zimbabweans have been through. He’s a sellout.”
Now the EFF wants the Zimbabwean Embassy in South Africa to be shut down because of Human Rights Violations in that country with security forces attacking citizens.
EFF Head of International Relations Godrich Gardee says this is the right direction.
“As a matter of fact, we should be leading a very big march to the Zimbabwean High Commission. We should be calling on the President to revoke the credentials of the Zimbabwean High Commissioner. We should be calling on the minister to call the Higher Commissioner and call upon the Chairperson of AU and SADC to reign upon Mnangagwa.”
The Zimbabwean Embassy in South Africa has labelled the EFF speaking from an ill-formed position on its government land program of giving relief to white farmers.
