Latest news with #killthefarmer
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Who is Julius Malema, the South African politician behind 'kill the farmer' chant?
JOHANNESBURG - Julius Malema, the South African politician who President Donald Trump wants arrested for repeatedly chanting "kill the farmer," is reportedly a Rolex watch-wearing Gucci revolutionary, often seen in snazzy, expensive clothes, who champions the poor from a luxury mansion in what is said to be South Africa's richest street. He has also called for the further arming of the terror group Hamas and has been accused of stealing millions of dollars from the very pensioners he is trying to get to vote for him. Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with a video of Malema shouting "Shoot to kill, Kill the Boer (the Afrikaner), kill the farmer," when the South African president, a neighbor of Malema's in Johannesburg, visited the Oval Office earlier this month. South Africa's President Pushes Back On Trump's Demand To Arrest Politician Who Chanted 'Kill The Farmer' Trump has offered Afrikaner farmers, descendants of mostly Dutch settlers, refuge in the U.S., citing controversial and disputed claims that they are facing White genocide and forced land seizures. The self-styled commander in chief of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Party, Malema, a Marxist-Leninist, was the head of the Youth League of South Africa's biggest party, the African National Congress (ANC), but he was kicked out for bad-mouthing its leadership. Read On The Fox News App In last year's election, votes for the EFF slumped to under 10%, and both of Malema's sidekicks, party co-founders and men he described as "brothers," left him and joined a competing party. So it did not come as a surprise to many that, allegedly to spite President Trump, Malema just days later jumped up, literally, onto the stage at the very next rally he was due to appear at to yell "Kill the farmer, I repeat kill the farmer." In 2022, South Africa's Constitutional Court, the equivalent of the U.S. Supreme Court, ruled the chant is not hate speech, declaring it is only the words of a song. Malema sits on the Judicial Services Commission, a body which appoints the Court's judges. To Malema, critics say, the chant may be more than just song lyrics. At least twice he told reporters here, "We have not called for the killing of White people – at least for now." On another occasion, he demanded, "We will cut the throat of Whiteness." Trump, South Africa In Growing Row Over Hotly Contested Land Law, Country's Deals With Us Foes Some say Malema is running two strategies - one which follows the mantra "There's no such thing as bad publicity," and the other to act like a small child that makes a lot of noise, hoping to be noticed, but with little real effect. Analyst J. Brooks Spector told Fox News Digital that Malema "has crafted a political reputation as the 'bad boy' of South African politics." Spector, a former U.S. diplomat who lives in Johannesburg and is associate editor of the Daily Maverick, continued. "In a country with a third of its workforce unemployed, and higher among young people, and poverty still a fact of life for many more, his (Malema's) populism initially drew significant support and enthusiasm among voters. However, his popularity as a political leader has faded somewhat." Malema openly supports the terror group Hamas, telling a rally in 2023, shortly after the October 7 attack on Israel, "when you are oppressed, you only have one option, shoot to kill. There is nothing wrong with what Hamas is doing. The EFF is going to arm Hamas." He also shouted he intended to shut down the Israeli Embassy in South Africa. "We are going to remove this embassy," he yelled to loud cheers. Allegations also suggest that Malema and his then right-hand man, Floyd Shivambu, benefitted from "dodgy" deals with the South African VBS bank, which subsequently collapsed, leading to people losing their pension savings. "In 2018, the VBS scandal exposed widespread looting by bank officials and politicians, including senior leaders of the EFF, Floyd Shivambu and Julius Malema," the Opposition Democratic Alliance's (DA) Baxolile Nodada stated last August. On Friday, the DA's federal executive member and national spokesperson, Willie Aucamp, told Fox News Digital the DA "isn't letting the VBS scandal fade into the background. Not when over R2 billion ($111 million) was looted from pensioners, struggling municipalities, and poor communities. The DA has been leading the charge to expose those behind this daylight robbery, including Julius Malema, leader of the EFF." He continued, "The DA laid criminal charges back in 2018, but six years later, not a single charge has been prosecuted by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). Justice for the victims of VBS is long overdue. The DA will continue pushing for the arrest and prosecution of every single person involved - Malema included." Speaking in Cape Town in July last year, Malema said "I will never be intimidated by VBS. No leader of the EFF received VBS money." But now that Malema is on Donald Trump's radar, the president might push back powerfully on Malema's links to Hamas and the VBS saga, Max Meizlish, senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital. "Like the ANC that courts Iran and supports Hamas, Julius Malema would be wise to not provoke Donald Trump. After all, Malema was clearly implicated in the VBS scandal and has openly called to "arm Hamas." Malema could very well find himself the target of Global Magnitsky Act sanctions — a tool which President Trump can wield unilaterally and at a moment's notice," Meizlish article source: Who is Julius Malema, the South African politician behind 'kill the farmer' chant?
Fox News
28-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
South Africa's president pushes back on Trump's demand to arrest politician who chanted 'kill the farmer'
JOHANNESBURG - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa hit back Tuesday against President Donald Trump's demand that opposition politician Julius Malema should be arrested, for repeatedly chanting "kill the farmer." Also on Tuesday, a senior politician within South Africa's government told Fox News Digital the chant "inflamed hatred" and called for "legal consequences." In the White House Oval Office last week, President Trump had a video showing Malema making the chant shown to the then-visiting Ramaphosa. Trump told the South African leader that Malema should be arrested. On Sunday, Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) political party, which drew just under 10% of the vote in last May's South African election and is not part of the government of national unity, told a crowd of thousands at a rally in South Africa's Free State, "I will never be intimidated by Donald Trump." Just four days after the president's call that he should be arrested, Malema launched into the chant again, shouting to cheers "Shoot to kill. Kill the Boer (Afrikaans farmer), the farmer." The Afrikaners are descendants of mostly Dutch settlers who first arrived in South Africa in 1652. Appearing to want to emphasize defiance, Malema then chanted "I repeat, kill the Boer, the farmer." Reacting to President Trump calling for Malema's arrest, President Ramaphosa on Tuesday told reporters there are no plans to detain the EFF leader. "It's not a matter where we need to be instructed by anyone (to) go and arrest this one. (Malema) We are a very proud sovereign country that has its own laws, that has its own processes." Ramaphosa continued that South Africa's equivalent of the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, had decided in 2022 the slogan "kill the Boer, kill the farmer" was only a decades-old "liberation chant and slogan, and it's not meant to be a message that elicits or calls upon anyone to go and be killed, and that is what our court decided." Critics point out that Malema sits on South Africa's Judicial Services Commission – the body that appoints judges here. All of this is against the background of President Trump accusing South Africa of genocide against farmers and inviting so far 49 Whites to fly to the U.S. as refugees. "That chant has no place in a democratic South Africa," the Democratic Alliance (DA) party's Ian Cameron told Fox News Digital. The DA is South Africa's main opposition party. They are members of the government of national unity, with Cameron serving as chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police. Cameron said that Malema singing the chant again this past weekend was "continuing to divide society and inflame hatred and mistrust. (It) plays a specific role in why farm attacks in South Africa are so unique: while brutal attacks continue in rural areas, he sings that song with pride, and many of his supporters openly celebrate the violence on social media." "I do believe that Julius Malema's repeated incitement—especially through songs like 'Kill the Boer', crosses a dangerous and unacceptable line," Cameron continued. "Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of democracy, but it cannot be used as a shield for promoting violence. At the very least, there should be legal consequences for incitement of violence, and our justice system must act without fear or favor." Ramaphosa said he was not going to have people arrested "willy nilly," adding on Tuesday, "we are a country where freedom of expression is the bedrock of our constitutional arrangement." None of this has phased Malema, who is on record saying, "I will sing the song as and when I like." Fox News Digital reached out to Malema but received no response. Attacks on both White and Black farmers here are real. Cameron told Fox News Digital, "I've personally stood in the aftermath of these attacks. I've walked into scenes that resembled abattoirs. I remember one farm where the victim's fingernail marks were still embedded in the carpet from where he was dragged and tortured. These are not ordinary crimes and often include disproportionate violence."
Time of India
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
South Africa's Malema vows to keep chanting controversial song
South Africa's Malema vows to keep chanting controversial song (Photo: AP) South Africa's firebrand opposition leader on Saturday vowed to keep using controversial chants that featured in a contentious White House meeting between the US and South African presidents. During talks in Washington on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump ambushed his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa by showing a four-minute-long video in support of his claims of a "white genocide" in the country that overcame decades of apartheid. Julius Malema, a 44-year-old opposition politician, was the main character in the video, seen in several clips wearing the red beret of his populist, Marxist-inspired Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party and chanting calls to "cut the throat of whiteness" as well as a controversial anti-apartheid song "Kill the Boer, kill the farmer". The decades-old "Kill the Boer" rallying cry was born during the struggle against the brutal policies of white-minority rule, and its use since the end of apartheid in 1994 infuriates parties that represent white South Africans, with many attempting to get it banned. A ban in 2010 was lifted after courts said it does not constitute hate speech and instead should be regarded in its historical context, and for the fact that it was being used by Malema only as a "provocative means of advancing his party's political agenda". by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch CFD với công nghệ và tốc độ tốt hơn IC Markets Đăng ký Undo Speaking at a regional election on Saturday, Malema said the controversial lyrics were "the heritage of our struggle" and vowed to keep on using them. "It is not my song. I did not compose this song," Malema said in televised comments. "The struggle heroes composed this song. All I am doing it to defend the legacy of our struggle." "Therefore I will never stop singing" the song, he said. "That will be a betrayal to the struggle of our people." Malema, 44, is an opposition politician, leader of the anti-capitalist and anti-US EFF that he founded in 2013 after being thrown out of the youth league of the ruling African National Congress, where he was accused of fomenting divisions. He portrays himself as the defender of society's most disadvantaged and has attracted largely young supporters angry at the large social inequalities that exist in South Africa 30 years after the end of apartheid. In the tense Oval Office meeting, Ramaphosa and his delegation distanced themselves from Malema's rhetoric.
The South African
21-05-2025
- Politics
- The South African
Johann Rupert blames illegal immigration, crime for farm murders
Affluent businessman Johann Rupert has clarified that it's not just white farmers that are being killed in South Africa but the scourge is affecting everyone. Ruppert is among President Cyril Ramaphosa's delegation that met with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, 21 May. The Presidency said the purpose of the visit is to reset and revitalise bilateral relations between South Africa and the United States. In this regard, the visit will focus specifically on reframing bilateral, economic and commercial relations. Despite the South African government disputing the white genocide myth several times, even through diplomatic channels, Trump insists that Afrikaners are under persecution in South Africa. Last Monday, a group of 49 Afrikaners, including children, left South Africa on Sunday, 11 May, and landed in the US on Monday, 12 May. This, after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order granting white farmers asylum, falsely saying they were being persecuted, and the South African government was confiscating their land and farms without compensation. During the visit, Trump ambushed Ramaphosa and his delegation about farm murders and land expropriation without compensation. He even went as far as handing out articles about farm murders and playing videos of Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema and uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party singing the struggle song 'Kill the Boer, kill the farmer' and questioned why Malema has not been arrested for his utterances. In response, Johann Rupert said the main issue in South Africa is crime and it doesn't affect white farmers only, but it's across the board. 'It's not only white farmers, it's across the board. We need technological help, we need Starlink at every police station, we need drones,' he said. Rupert said the country has a serious problem of illegal immigrants and unemployment which contributes to the overall high rate of crime. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X, and Bluesky for the latest news.
