Julius Malema
President of the Economic Freedom Fighters
| Date of Birth | : | 03 Mar, 1981 |
| Place of Birth | : | Seshego-B, Polokwane, South Africa |
| Profession | : | Politician |
| Nationality | : | South African |
| Social Profiles | : |
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Julius Sello Malema is a South African politician who is the founder and leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a popular far-left political party known for the red berets and military-style clothing worn by its members. Prior to its founding, he served as president of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League from 2008 until his expulsion from the party in 2012.
As a child, Malema joined the ANC and was a highly engaged member growing up; He was finally elected as the President of the Youth League in April 2008 under controversial circumstances. While president, he was an early proponent of the nationalization of South Africa's mining industry and the expropriation of land without compensation. He gained national fame as an outspoken supporter of Jacob Zuma, then ANC president and later President of South Africa. However, Malema's relationship with Zuma caused widespread tension following numerous disciplinary hearings against him by the ANC; By 2012, he was campaigning for Zuma's removal from office ahead of the ANC's 53rd National Conference. In April of that year, months before the conference, Malema was expelled from the ANC for bringing the party into disrepute. The following year, he founded the EFF and was elected to the National Assembly in 2014, winning 25 seats in the assembly.
Early life and education
Born on 3 March 1981, Malema was born and raised in the township of Seshego near Polokwane in the Transvaal, in the region now known as Limpopo. His family is Northern Sotho and his mother was a domestic worker and a single parent. After his mother died, he was raised by his grandmother, who died in May 2019.
Student politics
According to Malema, he joined the Masupatsela ("trailblazers") movement of the African National Congress (ANC) at the age of nine or ten. His main task at the time was to remove National Party posters. He has claimed to have received military training at the age of 13 but this claim has been disputed for lack of corroborating witnesses. In 1995, Malema joined the ANC Youth League and became the chairperson of his local branch in Seshego and of the regional branch in broader Capricorn. In 1997, he became the provincial chairperson of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS) in Limpopo. He was elected as national president of COSAS in 2001. In May of the following year, he led a COSAS students' march through Johannesburg; the march was marked by incidents of violence and looting.
Education
Malema matriculated from Mohlakaneng High School in Seshego. In 2010, he completed a two-year diploma in youth development through the University of South Africa (UNISA). Also at UNISA, he subsequently completed a Bachelor of Arts in communications and African languages in March 2016 an Honours degree in philosophy in 2017. In 2018, he enrolled in a master's degree programme at the University of the Witwatersrand.
ANC Youth League
Election as president: April 2008
By 2008, Malema was the provincial secretary of the Limpopo branch of the ANC Youth League and a leading contender for election as president of the national league. His candidacy had the support of outgoing league president Fikile Mbalula, while outgoing league secretary-general Sihle Zikalala supported the more moderate candidate, Saki Mofokeng. Following an extremely heated campaign and a disorderly plenary, Malema was elected ANC Youth League president at the league's 23rd National Conference in Bloemfontein in April 2008. He received 1,833 votes against Mofokeng's 1,696 votes and was elected alongside a slate of allies, including Andile Lungisa as deputy president.
The outcome of the vote was immediately disputed, including by conference delegates who claimed that incidents of intimidation had prevented them from voting. The conference devolved into disorder, with some delegates throwing chairs, and adjourned without concluding its business. Malema later criticised the "unbecoming conduct" shown by delegates at the conference. Following an intervention by the mainstream ANC, the league held a special closed congress in Johannesburg in June. On the recommendation of ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe, Mofokeng agreed to affirm the results of the election held in April.
Support for Zuma: 2008–2010
By the time of his election as Youth League president, Malema, like most of the league's membership, was a strong supporter of ANC president Jacob Zuma and an outspoken critic of former ANC president Thabo Mbeki. In June 2008, he defended Zuma – then facing prosecution on corruption charges – at a rally in Thaba 'Nchu, Free State, famously (and to broad condemnation) announcing, "We are prepared to die for Zuma... We are prepared to take up arms and kill for Zuma". In September, he vowed to "eliminate any force" that sought to block Zuma from the national presidency.
Disciplinary charges: 2010
Mounting controversy
By early 2010, Zuma faced significant pressure, both from the public and from inside the ANC, to curtail Malema's increasingly inflammatory conduct, and the Mail & Guardian reported that Zuma was concerned about being perceived as "a lame duck" with respect to the Youth League. In mid-March 2010, ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe told the media that henceforth ANC members would be punished if they engaged in public feuds with or attacks on one another. At the same time, the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) released a statement which objected to "the lack of respect which some of the leaders and structures of our movement have for the NEC's decisions", describing it as incompatible with "the ANC's historical mission, its discipline and its protocols". News24 said that both statements were clearly directed at Malema, who had "bad-mouthed almost everyone in the leadership of the governing alliance" and most recently had attacked Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in the media.
Political views
Caster Semenya saga
In the spring of 2009, Malema emerged as a vociferous public defender of South African runner Caster Semenya during the international controversy about Semenya's gender that unfolded after the 2009 World Athletics Championships. He also defended Athletics South Africa (ASA) president Leonard Chuene, who had allowed Semenya to compete at the championships even after being informed that a gender test had identified her as an intersex person. Malema argued that Chuene's actions required no apology and that he "was right to lie to protect her". He criticised Deputy Sports Minister Gert Oosthuizen for calling for Chuene's dismissal, and he harshly criticised the International Association of Athletics Federations for attempting to "impose" on South Africans the concept of intersex, which he argued did not exist in Pedi culture.
In October 2009, Malema threatened to "mobilise society" against Nedbank if it did not retract its decision to withdraw its sponsorship of ASA, suggesting (against Nedbank's protestation) that the decision was linked to ASA's support for Semenya. In response to the saga, Anton Alberts of the opposition Freedom Front Plus called on the ANC to recognise Malema as "a dilemma which can no longer be ignored".
Nationalisation and land expropriation
Malema is a vocal advocate of nationalising South African mines. He first called for nationalisation in July 2009 at a Youth League rally in Krugersdorp and he argued that the Freedom Charter entailed a pro-nationalisation platform. Although the ANC, including Mining Minister Susan Shabangu, and President Zuma, made it clear that this was not ANC policy, Malema has continued to advocate this position. His opinions on nationalisation are shared by South Africa's large National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). At a public meeting at the University of Western Cape, Malema asked: "Why should we pay for our land?"
He then advocated the seizure of land without compensation and the removal of the "willing buyer, willing seller" principle. At a 16 June Youth Day celebration, Malema accused white South Africans of "stealing land" and again advocated for the redistribution of land without compensation. In April 2010 Malema led a youth delegation to Venezuela to study that country's nationalisation programme.
Member of Parliament: 2014–2022
In the 2014 general election, less than a year after the party's launch, the EFF won 25 seats in the National Assembly, the lower house of the South African Parliament. Malema initially threatened to challenge the election results in court, but ultimately accepted the outcome – although in 2016 he continued to claim that the ANC had rigged the election in Gauteng. He was sworn in as a Member of the National Assembly on 21 May 2014. He was re-elected to the seat in the 2019 general election and has sat on various portfolio committees.
Malema has been ejected from Parliament several times. In June 2014, he was ejected from the State of the Nation debate after he refused to withdraw a statement to the effect that the ANC government had murdered mineworkers during the Marikana massacre. He and several other EFF members were ejected from Zuma's 2015 State of the Nation address after they loudly insisted that they be permitted to question Zuma about the Nkandlagate scandal; Malema said in response that South Africa was a police state. In September 2015, he was forcibly removed from the house by the sergeant-at-arms, and subsequently suspended for five days, after refusing to retract the accusation that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa was a "murderer" because of his actions during the Marikana massacre. He was forcibly ejected again during Zuma's State of the Nation addresses in 2016 and 2017.
Involvement in state contracts
Reports regarding Malema's possible involvement in state tenders (contracts) began appearing in November 2009. Questions about his personal lifestyle were raised by the South African media. Some analysts suggest this is also known as being a tenderpreneur, which is the early emergence of a form of kleptocracy, or predatory behaviour by a clique in the ruling elite, to generate personal wealth by capturing resources.
In August 2010, the Public Protector released a report which cleared Malema of involvement in state tenders in Limpopo. The report was received with scepticism in some quarters.
Threats to journalists
A few weeks after the tender controversy was first reported, the ANC Youth League released the personal details of City Press Investigations Editor Dumisane Lubisi, his wife and his children, including their identity numbers, bank details, residential address and vehicle details. Lubisi had reported on the poor construction quality of the Limpopo projects carried out by Malema's firms. The ANCYL made claims that it had evidence that journalists were corrupt in several respects.
In response, a large group of political journalists complained to various authorities within the ANC and to the South African National Editors' Forum (SANEF) stating that they viewed the release as an attempt to intimidate them into not publishing further stories, and as a threat to media freedom. They further questioned how a political organisation obtained sensitive personal information without breaking the law. The Sowetan newspaper, in an editorial, called the steps to silence journalists "tyrannical", and accused the ANC Youth league of exploiting its closeness to "state and institutional power", to intimidate journalists who wrote about Malema. SANEF also released a statement supporting the journalists. Malema issued a statement that the ANCYL would continue to "expose" journalists.
Investigation by the Hawks
While Malema was overseas at a friend's wedding in Mauritius in late October 2011, it was reported in various South African media that Malema faced various charges of corruption, fraud and money laundering – these charges having been brought forward by the special investigative unit the Hawks.
At the core of the allegations is the Ratanang Trust, a trust ostensibly set up by Malema and named for his son – with his son and grandmother listed as beneficiaries – but allegedly is the focal point for payments made by politically connected businessmen in return for lucrative state tenders, mostly in the impoverished Limpopo region. Malema has denied any wrongdoing, while various investigations continue.
Public image
Malema is known for his oratory skills. He is also known for his very controversial statements and has become a frequent target for lampooning. Initially, cartoonists Zapiro and Jeremy Nell frequently drew him dressed in nappies. Around 2010 Malema's public profile grew and he was described by critics in the media as a demagogue and a fascist.
Malema was listed in Time's Least Influential People of 2010, whereas conversely Forbes magazine named him as one of the "10 Youngest Power Men in Africa" in September 2011. Writing in the Sowetan, Andile Mngxitama described Malema as "an opportunist who raised these issues, not to solve them, but to trick the poor who have been waiting for a better life for all for almost 20 years now under your party's rule ... Instead of leading the new struggle as a selfless leader of the poor, you only pay lip service to the plight of our people while you amass great amounts of wealth through your political influence."
Between 2010 and 2013 popular media have referred to the Malema Dilemma to describe the duality between Malema's electoral popularity and the consequences of his controversial statements.
Personal life
Malema married his long-time girlfriend in a private ceremony under heavy security in his hometown Seshego in 2014. Their first son Munzhedzi was born in 2016 Their second son Kopano was born in 2018. Malema also has a son named Ratanang from a previous relationship with Maropeng Ramohlale.
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