Far-left South African politician says the UK denied him a visa to speak at Cambridge University
Julius Malema, the leader of South Africa's Economic Freedom Fighters opposition party, said the decision was effectively a ban on him addressing students and 'an attempt to silence a dissenting political perspective.'
He posted on social media platform X that he had been assured that his visa was being processed but had received 'a regret letter' informing him his application was not successful while he was at Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport waiting for his flight to London.
Malema, who also uses the title 'Commander in Chief' of his party, has previously demanded the U.K. pay reparations and apologize to African nations for colonialism. The lawmaker and his party have also accused the British monarchy of playing a leading role in the slave trade and colonial abuses.
The BBC reported that it had seen a leaked letter to Malema's EFF party from the British high commissioner to South Africa personally apologizing that the U.K. Home Office wasn't able to process Malema's visa in time and saying it was due to procedural issues. The letter from High Commissioner Antony Phillipson cited "the unfortunate timing" of recent British national holidays, according to the BBC.
The Home Office didn't comment.
Malema was due to speak at an Africa-themed event at Cambridge University on Saturday, his party said.
The firebrand politician, who was expelled from South Africa's then-ruling African National Congress party in 2012, has also taken anti-Western positions recently on the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict. He has voiced support for Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and has accused Western nations of supporting and financing what he calls Israel's 'genocide' against Palestinians in Gaza.
In October, the U.K. denied ex-South African lawmaker Mandla Mandela, the grandson of Nelson Mandela, a visa to travel and speak at pro-Palestinian events in several British cities. Mandla Mandela said he was informed by the Home Office that his visa had been rejected because of his support for the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which the U.K. considers a terrorist organization, and his presence was 'not conducive to the public good.'
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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
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In some cases, he's used presidential power in novel ways to stop sudden conflicts from escalating into full-scale wars. But his success raises new questions that also apply to Ukraine. Is Trump in it for the long haul or just for deals he can hype, much as he licensed products as a businessman and stamped his name on them? And will Trump's evisceration of the US Agency for International Development and downsizing of the State Department deprive him of the tools the US needs to turn breakthroughs into lasting peace agreements that solve underlying causes of wars? Trump kept insisting Monday — as he tried finesse his adoption of Russia's opposition to an immediate Ukraine ceasefire — that he was more interested in final deals. Ironically however, some of his 'six wars' deals are closer to ceasefires than peace agreements that permanently end generational disputes. 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'I'm struck by the fact that the ones that were helpful, especially India-Pakistan, were conducted in a professional way, quietly, diplomatically … laying the ground and finding common ground between the parties,' said Celeste Wallander, a former assistant secretary of defense who is now with the Center for a New American Security. The most recent triumph was a joint peace declaration signed by Armenia and Azerbaijan on their long-running conflict in the Caucasus. The agreement, inked at a lavish White House ceremony, commits the two former Soviet republics to recognizing each other's borders and to renouncing violence against the other. But complex negotiations loom on knotty constitutional and territorial issues before a full peace agreement. This deal is notable for two things — the way foreign states flatter Trump to get what they want, and an imperialistic streak in much of his peacemaking. The rivals, for instance, agreed to open a transportation corridor to which the US will have full development rights and to call it the 'Trump Route for Peace and Prosperity.' Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev declared, 'President Trump, in six months, did a miracle.' This is smart deal for the US as it counters the influence of rival powers Russia and Iran in the region. But it will need Trump's constant attention. 'Wishes and verbal declarations are not enough,' two former US ambassadors to Azerbaijan, Robert Cekuta and Richard Morningstar, wrote in a recent Atlantic Council commentary. They called on Trump to deploy officials from the State Department, the Commerce Department and other agencies to lock in the agreement. Another of Trump's recent triumphs came in Southeast Asia, where he threatened to shelve trade deals with both Thailand and Cambodia to halt a border war last month that killed at least 38 people. The leverage pressed home in calls to leaders of each country was effective, and it might not have occurred to another president. But Trump didn't work alone. The agreement was brokered by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knew the drill, however. He nominated Trump for the Nobel Prize for 'extraordinary statesmanship.' Pakistan took a similar step, as part of a successful diplomatic offensive to win over Trump and to disadvantage its nuclear-armed rival India after the president intervened in a border clash in May. But the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an erstwhile Trump buddy, dismissed Washington's claims of a pivotal role. And other states, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Britain, were also involved. Trump's claims to have ended a war are selective. The agreement is fragile and doesn't solve the territorial dispute that sparked the fighting — over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which has caused three full-scale wars. Trump has proclaimed a 'glorious triumph for the cause of peace' in a deal brokered between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This contains important first steps on recognizing borders, renouncing war and disarming militia groups. However, no one expects the conflict to end soon, since the main Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group has rejected the agreement. Some analysts see the initiative, also brokered by Qatar, as a US attempt to secure mineral rights as part of an African 'great game' against China. Trump's claim to have brokered peace between Egypt and Ethiopia is a stretch. He's referring to a dispute over a Nile dam in the latter nation that Egypt fears will reduce the flow in its share of the key strategic waterway. He has called for a deal over the dam, but no binding agreement has been reached. The White House claims on Serbia and Kosovo originate in Trump's first term, when the rivals agreed to economic normalization steps. But they still don't have diplomatic relations, 17 years after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. And recent normalization efforts have involved the EU more than the Trump team. In many ways, Trump's claims to have ended six or seven wars are typical of a presidency that claims massive wins that often add up to less than what they seem. But there are real achievements in his record, and the possibility of genuine long-term breakthroughs if Trump can maintain application and patience. That's a good lesson for his nascent Ukraine peace drive. This article and headline have been updated with additional reporting.
