Billionaire CEO Elon Musk has criticised South African politician, Julius Malema for his controversial chant at a recent EFF rally. The chant, popularised in the 1990s, has sparked debate over its meaning and potential implications. Musk, born in South Africa, questions the President’s silence and raises concerns about the calls for violence. Malema’s party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, advocates radical policies, gaining popularity and financial support. As tensions rise, the nation faces an uncertain political future with potential coalition prospects.
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Elon Musk Wades Into South African Politics With Post Blasting Controversial Chant
By S’thembile Cele
Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive officer of X Corp., castigated South African politician Julius Malema over a controversial chant he made at a rally attended by tens of thousands of his partyâs supporters over the weekend.
The chant âkill the boer, kill the farmerâ made by Malema was popularized in the 1990s by Peter Mokaba, a former youth leader of the African National Congress, which has led the country since the end of White-minority rule in 1994. Mokaba, who died in 2002, argued that the call shouldnât be literally interpreted, but was a metaphor for taking a stand against apartheid, and last year South Africaâs Equality Court ruled that it didnât amount to hate speech.
âThey are openly pushing for genocide of White people in South Africa,â Musk, who was born in Pretoria and emigrated at the age of 17, said in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. He questioned why President Cyril Ramaphosa has failed to speak out.
Malema, who founded the Economic Freedom Fighters a decade ago after the ANC expelled him for bringing it into disrepute, has a long history of making radical statements. His party, South Africaâs third-largest, advocates for the nationalization of all land and the redistribution of wealth to the Black majority, policies that have resonated with many poor township residents whose standard of living has improved little since apartheid ended. It won 11% of the vote in the last national elections four years ago.
While a poll of 1,517 registered voters published in March by the Social Research Foundation showed the EFFâs share of the vote could sink to as low as 6%, other surveys indicate that it retains the backing of more than 10% of the electorate. Opinion polls also show the ANC risks losing its outright majority in next yearâs elections â and if it does there is a prospect it could enter into coalition with EFF to retain power, as it has done in a number of municipalities.
The EFFâs popularity and financial muscle were on stark display at its 10th anniversary rally, when it packed out out the 94,736-seat FNB Stadium in Soweto, near Johannesburg, on July 29. Several top bands performed at the event, which culminated with Malema being raised into the air on a platform at the end of his address to wild applause.
âWe are taking government in 2024,â Malema told the crowd. âThe revolution in South Africa is guaranteed.â
Malema adopted a more conciliatory tone in a meeting with diplomats on July 28, saying South Africa would remain open for business when his party takes power and privately owned mines and banks wonât be shut, but that the country needed to be dealt with on âequal terms.â
âWith the European Union, donât ask what will we ask from you,â he said in reply to a question from Spainâs ambassador to South Africa on how he foresaw future relations with the bloc. âThat is a big brother mentality. What are you going to ask from us? We are not asking for anything, we are fine. Let us relate as equals, not as a beggar and a big brother supplier.â
Malema also warned the US not to threaten to withdraw the preferential market access South Africa enjoys under the African Growth and Opportunity Act in response to it maintaining relations with Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin.
âYou canât use AGOA to threaten us in terms of our sovereignty and foreign policy,â he said. âYou can do away with AGOA. We will remain with our sovereignty.â
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- Ivo Vegter on Malemaâs violent rhetoric â Defeating the demagogueâs agenda at the ballot box
- How corruption kills â Jack Bloom on almost 30 years of looting in Gauteng
© 2023 Bloomberg L.P.
