Publications
Partners
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has characterised the majority of Indians as being racist, saying that their disdain for blacks is evident in their voting patterns and the low marriage rate between Indians and Africans.
“I want to give you two examples of why I say the majority of Indians are racist. If you check the marriage rate between Indians and Africans, it is extremely low. Africans and Indians do not marry each other because the majority of those Indians see us as subhuman. We actually marry more white people than Indians. An Indian who marries an African gets isolated in Indian communities. They see that as a taboo, that is the first point,” Malema said at the EFF’s Youth Day commemoration rally in Matlosana in North West on Saturday.
“The second point is that the majority of Indians do not vote for African parties. The majority of Indians do not vote for the ANC, they do not vote for the [Inkatha Freedom Party], for the [United Democratic Movement], for the EFF. They vote for the DA because they see themselves as being closer to white than African struggles. If there are Indians who are going to catch feelings over this statement, it is your own baby to feed Maltabella.”
Malema went on to bat for EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu, who came under fire following what became a tense sitting of Parliament’s finance committee.
In the committee meeting, Shivambu asked the chairperson: “Why is it that National Treasury is represented by one person on every issue? Is he responsible for everything? Is he National Treasury?” he asked, referring to its deputy director-general, Ismail Momoniat.
Malema on Saturday said Shivambu’s words were deliberately distorted and that distortion would not deter him or his party from exposing the realities that black people were subjected to.
“If Momo fought in the struggle, he would have understood what Floyd said better than all those Indian-led mobs who attacked Floyd.”
In the almost hour-long speech, Malema called on young people to honour the 1976 generation by going to school and acknowledging the contribution made by the 2015 #FeesMustFall movement.
He also called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to urgently attend to students who had been jailed and expelled from institutions for their role in the protests.
He said Ramaphosa needed to intervene at Rhodes University, where female students had been expelled for protesting against the alleged rape culture at the institution.
Campaigning ahead of next year’s elections, Malema said the EFF wanted Ramaphosa back in church, where he belonged: “Ramaphosa was a pastor, he is a man of the church. White people fetched him from church and gave him money to form [the National Union of Mineworkers]. [When he speaks, you hear] that he is just a pastor.”
TALK TO US
What do you think about Julius Malema’s Youth Day speech?
SMS us on 35697 using the keyword MALEMA and tell us what you think. Please include your name and province. SMSes cost R1.50
