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IOL News
2 hours ago
- Politics
- IOL News
Trump's pastor Mark Burns speaks out against Malema and EFF's 'Kill the Boer' chant
Described as US President Donald Trump's top pastor, Mark Burns, is visiting southern Africa and said he is convinced that there is no genocide against white Afrikaner farmers. Image: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers US based Pastor Mark Burns, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump believes the EFF and its leader Julius Malema should not be taken seriously and are attention-seekers for chanting the 'divisive' 'Kill the Boer, kill the farmer' chant. The African American televangelist, described by Time magazine as Trump's top pastor, was in South Africa on a fact-finding mission following widespread and repeatedly disputed claims of genocide against white Afrikaner farmers. In an interview in Johannesburg this week, Burns suggested that the EFF is losing steam and is slowly fizzling out. 'To my understanding he (Malema) is a minor character and he is slowly fizzling out. I don't want to keep bringing his name up to give him a platform but the reality of it is, that most South Africans don't take him seriously at all, whether you're black or white,' he said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ 'I don't want to give oxygen to his name to be honest with you. He doesn't have the steam he may once have had and when those videos (were taken) of him singing that song 'Kill the Boer' there were massive crowds but he doesn't have that type of steam anymore'. He dismissed Malema as 'just a character who is screaming, trying to garner attention for himself'. 'That song is a divisive song and I am saying that as a black man, who is very proud that the apartheid government is no longer here, as a man of faith, anything that will cause my brother to stumble should not happen,' Burns explained. He said he understood the historical significance of the song. 'Being a black man, speaking from a black perspective, coming from a nation that once had slaves and up until the 1960s the modern day civil rights movement, many of us didn't even have the right to vote. So it's still not too long ago. "I understand the struggle, I understand the significance of Negro spirituals that were sung during slavery time periods as people were picking cotton, working the fields and it was a way of communicating messages between each other,' added Burns. He explained that some of the songs were designed around killing or about fleeing but they were special. 'They had a significant part then but they don't play a role in society today. You place them in a history book, you may teach people about it but you don't actively bring it to modern day society when apartheid doesn't exist in South Africa,' Burns maintained. Trump played a video of Malema chanting "Kill the Boer, kill the farmer" a recent Oval Office meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa, with the US President asking Ramaphosa why the EFF leader had not yet been arrested. Last weekend, Malema said he would not be silenced and intimidated by Trump and added that South African courts have ruled there is nothing wrong with the chant, which was not his as he had not composed it. Malema added that Struggle heroes composed the chant and he is defending the legacy of the chant as part of the Struggle heritage. Burns, the founder and chief executive of the NOW television network also expressed his opposition to the country's broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) policies. 'Yes, it (B-BBEE) is designed to help people of colour to gain access to equal opportunities for economic empowerment while at the same time it should not alienate other people who also want to come to the forefront regardless of the colour of their skin,' said Burns. He said he believed B-BBEE is prohibitive to investment and is causing people to revisit investing in South Africa. 'It blocks other people from around the world, especially the US if they feel coming to South Africa will prevent other people prospering simply for the colour of their skin,' Burns insisted. He proposed revisiting B-BBEE while accepting that 'it is desirable to those who traditionally for 300 years did not have access to the opportunities that now exist'.
IOL News
3 hours ago
- Politics
- IOL News
What did the Trump-Ramaphosa meeting tell us about the image of SA and its leaders?
A video is played as US President Donald Trump meets with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington last Wednesday. The meeting was amid tensions over Washington's resettlement of white Afrikaners that the US president claims are the victims of "genocide." Trump criticised EFF leader Julius Malema and the "Kill the Boer" chant, citing it as evidence of targeted violence against white Afrikaner farmers. Image: Jim WATSON / AFP THE much-anticipated meeting between our President Cyril Ramaphosa and his counterpart in the United States, President Donald Trump, lived up to expectations, with the latter turning up the heat on his guests. By the admission of our delegation, South Africa is a very dangerous place because of rampant crime and lawlessness. While the jury is still out as to whether Ramaphosa succeeded in his attempts to reset the strained bilateral relations, what is clear is that the meeting gave the international community the impression that South African leaders are failing in their constitutional duty to protect citizens and govern the country. The result is that our pride as a beacon of hope in Africa is now hurt. The South African government came across as inept and lacking the political will to deal decisively with the scourge of violent crime, mass unemployment, and racial intolerance, to name a few crises. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading We are not yet privy to what was discussed behind closed doors and the deals that were made. What will be remembered about the meeting is Trump's wild and unsubstantiated claims of genocide suffered by Afrikaners and his display of brute power over Ramaphosa in front of the cameras. One could easily tell that Ramaphosa, like Ukraine's Zelensky went to the White House with a begging bowl. Unlike Zelensky, though, Ramaphosa went out of his way to massage the errant Trump's ego and thus came across as submissive; suffice it to say that some people would argue that he was being diplomatic. However, the big takeaway and the elephant in the room has got to be the painful admission from the South African delegation of the government's helplessness in the fight against rampant crime. This helplessness was in full display in 2021 during the looting spree after former President Zuma was arrested. To date, not even a single mastermind behind the 2021 riots has been successfully prosecuted. Similarly, those fingered by the Zondo Commission of Inquiry have not been prosecuted, suggesting that there's no political will to deal decisively with corruption and wrongdoing. This raises the question: what does this tell us about the image of South Africa and its leaders? The image of South Africa that Trump portrayed and that the delegation conceded to was of a lawless country whose government cannot protect its citizens from violent crime. In recent years, more and more South Africans are living in fear of political assassinations, hijackings, extortionists, burglars, armed robbers, kidnappers, and taxi violence. What exacerbates South Africa's problems are its porous borders and corrupt officials managing the borders. Lawlessness and the lack of political will to combat crime in South Africa are attracting criminals across the continent and from abroad to come and operate in the country with impunity. Crime in South Africa permeates every aspect of life, and it undermines good governance, efficient economic management, public safety, social order, and compliance with the law. The result is that South Africa is increasingly becoming an unattractive destination for foreign direct investment and international tourists. No wonder our domestic economy is struggling to grow and create much-needed jobs. What this means is that the problems of high unemployment and poverty are not going away soon, and crime is likely to continue. While Trump might not have succeeded in proving the genocide case, he appeared to succeed in making the South African delegation concede that crime, across the board, is out of control and the government is failing in its constitutional duty to protect its citizens. South Africa's businessman, Johann Rupert, was at pains explaining to Trump that 'crime affects everyone' and that South Africa needs America's 'help to stop this awful killing….' Interestingly, Rupert made the point that South Africa needs to fix its wobbly economy to end what he labels the culture of 'dependency and lawlessness.' The portrayal of South Africa as a country that cannot fix its problems does not bode well for its aspirations as a regional leader in Africa. South Africa styles and markets itself as a 'bridge' and a getaway into the African continent. Its membership of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and the G20 makes South Africa see itself as a spokesperson for and leader of Africa. This begs the question: Is South Africa fit and fully equipped to be a regional leader if its government cannot provide domestic leadership? The idea that economic problems, such as high unemployment among the youth and poverty, are to blame for intolerable levels of crime is not convincing. There are many poorer countries in Africa without high levels of crime. The difference is that there are consequences for breaking the law in many African states. In countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya, there is a political will to hold lawbreakers accountable. Ramaphosa's cute move to dispel the notion of genocide: In an attempt to debunk and send a message that there is no genocide of Afrikaners, Ramaphosa 's entourage comprised prominent Afrikaners such as golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen as well as businessman Johann Rupert and John Steenhuizen, a member of Ramaphosa's GNU Cabinet. Even the presence of prominent Afrikaners appeared not to be enough evidence to convince Trump that the South African government is not discriminating against whites, in general, and Afrikaners, in particular. It should be remembered that the GNU has passed three laws that white political parties vehemently opposed, that is, the BELA bill, the NHI bill, and the Expropriation bill. In this context, Trump came to the meeting wanting to put pressure on Ramaphosa to do more to accommodate the interests of the white population. This could explain why Trump saw the multi-racial composition of South Africa's delegation to the US as superficial and condescending. The Malema factor: In making his case of a genocide in South Africa, Trump played a video of the EFF's Julius Malema chanting 'Kill the Boer, Kill the farmer' and even former president Zuma singing about shooting Afrikaners. Trump then baselessly claimed that 'they take the land. They kill the farmer. And nothing happens to them.' There is no doubt that these slogans and songs about killing Afrikaners do constitute hate speech and incite violence, even though the courts have found otherwise. It was quite embarrassing to see our prominent leaders utter such venomous words at a time when South Africans should be forging racial tolerance and unity. Without realising it, Trump gave Malema the attention he craves and the status of a leader who stands up to the 'imperialist' West. Malema might have looked bad in the eyes of the Western audience for shouting hateful slogans, but among his sympathizers, he is now the real deal, who is feared by Western leaders. The slogan, 'Kill the Boer, Kill the farmer,' has a long history in South Africa, and it is associated with the ANC during the anti-apartheid struggle. How embarrassing it could have been for Ramaphosa had he been seen next to Zuma singing a song about shooting Afrikaners, since the video Trump played showed Zuma wearing an ANC golf shirt while still the president of the ANC. So what message does it send to the world when prominent leaders in South Africa, including its then state president Zuma, sing about shooting and killing members of a minority group? The governing ANC has never denounced this awful slogan. This is the same ANC government that accused Israel of genocide but tolerates leaders who advocate for the killing of a racial minority. I guess this is the hypocrisy Trump sought to expose. No wonder no meaningful racial reconciliation has happened in South Africa. Can one then blame those Afrikaners who recently emigrated to the US? Zakhele Collison Ndlovu Image: File Zakhele Collison Ndlovu is a political analyst at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. ** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media. THE POST
IOL News
a day ago
- IOL News
Swift police action in Olorato Mongale murder highlights gender-based violence in South Africa
Olorato Mongale was recently found dead after going on a date. Image: X Police have been praised for the swift action that led to the apprehension of suspects in the tragic murder of journalism graduate Olorato Mongale. This comes after KwaZulu-Natal police traced one of three suspects wanted in connection with the murder to the coastal town of eManzimtoti south of Durban. Mongale went on a date with her alleged killer, who picked her up from her residential complex last Sunday before he killed her. 'The main suspect in the killing of Olorato Mongale, who was killed and dumped on the side of the road at Lombardy West, in Johannesburg, Gauteng province, was shot and fatally wounded in a shootout with police in the Amanzimtoti area in KwaZulu-Natal,' said police. KZN Premier Thami Ntuli commended the police for their prompt and decisive response to the tragic murder 'The swift action by SAPS in tracking down those responsible sends a powerful message: there will be no refuge for criminals in this province. The outcome of the shootout demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that justice is neither delayed nor denied,' he said. The premier expressed his appreciation to community members who showed remarkable bravery in helping the police. 'We salute the courageous individual who provided critical information that enabled the authorities to act. This collaboration between citizens and law enforcement is vital in dismantling criminal networks and reclaiming our communities from fear and violence,' he stated. Ntuli issued a direct warning to the remaining suspect who remains at large. 'To the individual still evading justice: your time is running out. Law enforcement agencies are working with relentless focus to bring you to account. I urge you to surrender yourself without delay.' The EFF said Mongale's life was cut short in a senseless and horrific act of gender-based violence that continues to haunt the women of South Africa daily. 'Olorato's murder is not an isolated case; it is part of a terrifying epidemic that we have been highlighting for a long time. Gender-based violence statistics in South Africa reveal a grim reality: women live in constant fear, and too often, that fear is realised through assault, rape, and murder.' The EFF welcomed the swift response of law enforcement. 'We commend KZN Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi for his relentless efforts in this case. Under his leadership, crucial breakthroughs have occurred: the white VW Polo used to abduct Olorato was recovered in Phoenix, KwaZulu-Natal, and suspects Philangenkosi Makhanya and Bongani Mthimkhulu — both out on bail for previous kidnapping and robbery charges — have been named as persons of interest.' However, the EFF said the fact that they were granted bail, despite their criminal histories, is a 'damning indictment' of our justice system's failure to prioritise the safety of women. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), in reaction to Mongale's murder, said: 'Crime cannot continue to be normalised. It is time that war be declared against this cancer that is claiming too many lives, especially in our townships and rural areas.' KZN Violence monitor Mary de Haas said she is appalled by the killing of women and children. De Haas said South Africa has to deal with levels of violence in the country. 'We have never dealt with the trauma of the past. We have a huge problem with the upbringing of children, in the sense that children are having children they can't look after, children are malnourished, and those children that are mentally stunted make prime choices for criminality.' De Haas also questioned why so many suspects are being shot dead by police, although she conceded that some situations cannot be avoided. 'Dead men tell no tales, because that suspect may have been one of many… Is there nobody that can shoot to disable, because you want to keep that person alive, to trace networks,' she said. [email protected]
Eyewitness News
a day ago
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Treasury defends fuel levy increase
CAPE TOWN - The Treasury has defended an increase in the fuel levy, saying if it doesn't raise it in line with inflation, it would become worthless over time. The fuel levy has been left unchanged for three years to mitigate the impact of high oil prices at the time it was frozen. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is going to court next week to challenge the legality of imposing an increase as part of the national budget, saying that the finance minister had failed to issue a government notice to this effect, nor had he introduced a bill in Parliament. The price of petrol will increase by at least 16 cents per litre on Wednesday. ALSO READ: • Ntshavheni says EFF free to challenge national budget in court • EFF accuses finmin of 'undermining' Parly in court papers seeking to stop fuel levy hike • MPs say impact of fuel levy increase will be 'far worse' than VAT hike • EFF accuses Treasury of replacing VAT increase with fuel levy hike • Automobile Association slams new fuel levy hike The Treasury said that increasing the value-added tax (VAT) rate could not be equated with raising the fuel levy. Responding to public submissions on the budget in Parliament on Friday, Treasury's head of tax policy, Chris Axelson, said that the fuel levy was the country's fourth-largest revenue source, contributing about five percent to total tax revenue. "This is a specific tax, a cents per litre, so these kinds of specific tax, which is the same as excise duties, they need to be adjusted by inflation, otherwise the real value of that tax will go down over time." Axelson said that by not adjusting the fuel levy, Treasury would lose about R3.5 billion in revenue. "The vast majority of the tax revenue increase is all on the personal income tax side. Around R16.7 billion of the R18 billion in increases is all on personal income tax." While the finance minister is empowered through the Customs and Excise Act to implement an interim fuel levy adjustment by a notice in the gazette, Parliament can intervene to change the duration before it's formalised in the taxation act.
The Citizen
a day ago
- Politics
- The Citizen
Was Ramaphosa heckling EFF's payback for White House embarrassment?
The EFF suffered major blows during the general elections last year, and the situation could get worse in 2026. The EFF may have reverted to disruptive politics to punish President Cyril Ramaphosa for not defending the party during his meeting with US president Donald Trump in Washington earlier this month. This is the view of Theo Neethling from the University of Free State (UFS) In June 2024, during a press briefing in Cape Town, EFF leader Julius Malema said the outcomes of the general elections had left the party with no choice but to become meaningful contributors in parliament. 'This time around, we have taken a decision not to play any role in disrupting Parliament. We will be robust and engage to a point where we follow up on that which was rejected illegally in Parliament through peaceful protest on the streets,' he said. However, all of this changed this week when at least 10 EFF MPs were reprimanded for disrupting Ramaphosa's Q&A session at the Good Hope chambers. They made spurious points of order and argued with the presiding officer, which almost led to the entire session collapsing. Embarrassment in the White House Theo Neethling said the EFF's actions in parliament had a lot to do with the embarrassment the party had suffered in front of international media at the White House. 'I do believe what we saw in parliament has to do with what happened at the White House, the EFF was put on the spotlight [in front of Trump] and president Ramaphosa was in no position to defend the party and its leader. 'Julius Malema's radicalism became the president's embarrassment in the White House. John Steenhuisen also downplayed the EFF suggesting that they should never be part of the government of national unity. 'Mr. Johann Rupert also made a comment about their radicalism saying that he had been a victim of the EFF's politics for a very long time.' Malema had defended his right to sing the Kill Boer song. But Neethling said the EFF were the visible losers in the discussions that had taken place in Washington. 'They are going to seek ways of compensating for this loss of face, and we must keep in mind that they have recently lost a significant segment of their leaders, and that is a serious blow to their future,' he said. ALSO READ: EFF threatens legal action over plans to offer Elon Musk's Starlink What does the EFF's future look like? Another political analyst, Dr Imraan Buccus, said the EFF has become known for their populist actions, but this kind of politics does not advance national interest. 'These Utopian views on political activism lack the strategy and foresight, and the ability to grasp the balance of forces in society, and do not therefore help the future of South Africa,' he said. The EFF suffered major blows during the general elections last year, and Buccus predicted that the situation may get worse for the Red Berets during the local government elections next year. 'The EFF aims to attract the young vote 18 to 30 but the reality is that even though Malema remains popular in this cohort it does not translate electorally because young people here and internationally express political enthusiasm but often do not turn up at the polls,' he said. Meanwhile parliament is expected to launch formal disciplinary proceedings into the conduct of EFF members during the president's Q&A session. The party is accused of denying South Africans the right to hear the president's responses and of disturbing the work of parliament. NOW READ: 'He's talking rubbish,' Malema responds to Shivambu's comments on EFF
