Julius Malema has been an enigma in South Africa since he joined the political scene. He is known all over Africa for his fiery outspoken nature and his inspiring oratory. One thing everybody can agree on about Malema is that he is not afraid to speak out against anybody. Over the years since he became the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, Malema has lashed out at everyone from the South African ANC government, the Nigerian government, the Kenyan government, to the U.S. and the West. Malema has been known to cause disruption with his hard words. Without a doubt, it is for this reason that Malema was banned from attending the recent State of the Nation address by President Ramaphosa. The address was to mark the opening of the new parliamentary session. According to the South African court which upheld the ban, Julius Malema, his deputy leader, and four other representatives of the EFF, will not be allowed to attend the State of the Nation address, an event which happened on Thursday 8th, February 2024. In addition, Malema and his five representatives were suspended from the new parliamentary session from February 1 to February 29, 2024.

Anyway, the members of parliament probably decided beforehand that there was a high probability that Malema would disrupt the President’s speech again and so to avoid this, the best thing to do was to stop him from attending. Of course, after the decision was made, the fiery brand EFF leader did not meekly accept the decision. Instead, he took legal action to appeal the suspension of him and his members. Unfortunately, they were rejected by the court. After being rejected, they filed another appeal asking that the new parliamentary rules under which they were suspended be declared invalid. Again, the appeal was dismissed by the Western Cape High Court. Now, regardless of whether or not, the ANC government was right in its decision to ban and suspend members of the EFF, the fact is, Julius Malema has been a thorn in the side of the ANC since he formed his party in 2013. Interestingly, Malema used to be a diehard fan of the ANC, the political party of Nelson Mandela, credited for putting an end to apartheid in South Africa. He was not only a fan of the ANC but also referred to the party as his family.

In 2008, Malema became the president of the ANC Youth League by a narrow majority and it was from this point that he started becoming known all over South Africa. After this, he began to rally support for President Zuma who later became the president of the ANC as well as South Africa. His support for President Zuma was so strong that he once said that he would kill for him. Of course, this statement drew criticism from the public as did his public singing an ANC liberation song that included the lyrics “shoot the Boer,” which many regard as a hate speech song. In fact, from 2008 to 2010, Malema was accused of hate speech so many times. In March 2010 he was convicted of having used “hate speech” about comments he made about a woman who had accused Zuma of rape in 2006. In April, of the same year, Malema branded a BBC journalist “a bloody agent” and threw him out of a press conference, all the while insisting that white South Africans should be treated as “criminals” for stealing land from black people. All these drew a rebuke from the ANC and President Zuma. In May 2010, Malema was called to a disciplinary hearing. The terms of a plea bargain agreement required him to publicly apologize for his behavior and made him subject to suspension from the party should he engage in similar behavior within the next two years. But was that enough to change the fiery Malem? Of course not.

Over the following year, in 2011, Malema grew in popularity within the ANC Youth League and beyond with his populist message, which included calls for nationalizing mines and banks and expropriating white-owned farmland, a message that resonated with many. He was reelected president of the ANC Youth League in June 2011 and continued his behavior which the ANC regarded as disruptive. Everything came to a head in August 2011, when the ANC called for another disciplinary hearing because Malema said that the government in Botswana needed to be overthrown. This statement together with his criticism of President Zuma in public led the ANC to charge him with provoking divisions within the organization, bringing it into disrepute, and sowing intolerance. Malema was found guilty in November and suspended for the next five years. The fiery leader refused to accept the decision and appealed in February 2012. However, it was rejected because according to the ANC, Malema continued to be disruptive during the appeal period. When Malema was expelled from the ANC, everybody thought that it was the end of his political career.

However, Malema shocked everyone and launched a new party called the Economic Freedom Fighters in 2013. At first, nobody gave the EFF much thought, thinking it would end up being one of those small parties. However, Malema shattered those thoughts about the EFF. From a pretty much insignificant party in 2013, the EFF has grown so big that today it’s now the third-biggest political party in South Africa and much more popular than the major opposition party, the Democratic Alliance which is the second largest party in South Africa. In addition, the EFF is not just known in South Africa but also all around Africa and beyond and it’s all because of the fiery behavior of Julius Malema, something the ANC called disruptive. According to some experts, the EFF is a force to be reckoned with during the upcoming South African election because, at a time when the ANC seems to be losing electoral support, electoral support for the EFF has to be steadily rising.

According to these experts, the reason for this is that the EFF portrays itself as the true custodian of the values the ANC espoused during the anti-apartheid struggle. The EFF accuses the ANC of having abandoned this agenda and this is the reason for which the party was formed. This has enabled black South African voters to shift their support from the ANC to the EFF without changing their political orientation. The EFF’s message to the public is focused on lands and jobs and it resonates given the country’s history of black land dispossession and stubbornly high unemployment, especially among young people. Julius Malema is indeed a force to be reckoned with. This current suspension from the Parliament is definitely not enough to hold him down. The 2024 South African election will definitely be one of the most interesting elections to watch out for as Julius Malema will be contesting for the position of President. Do you think he has garnered enough force to win and become President of South Africa?

Let’s hear your thoughts in the comment section below. Don’t forget to like, subscribe and share this video.

Man
Tot
Becelo both score
Napoli
Juv under 2.5
Psg both score