Black Twitter turns on Julius Malema

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema was the number one trending topic on social media on Thursday morning for all the wrong reasons.

While the commander-in-chief of the red berets is probably used to negative feedback on social media, what is interesting about the current wave of negative sentiment is that it comes primarily from black South Africans – the demographic Malema and the EFF look to for support.

Among the many tweets accompanied with the hashtag #JuliusMalema are numerous people apologising for having voted for the EFF in the May 8 elections.

This appears to be an extension of an issue that first started five days ago, relating to Malema’s support for Nigerian singer-songwriter Burna Boy, who went on a Twitter rant in response to xenophobia in South Africa which included physical threats to local rapper AKA.

“Looking forward to receiving and being entertained by my brother [Burna Boy] here at his home called South Africa,” Malema tweeted.

“There’s no mascot that can stop him from performing, he’s one of our own and we will protect him. We must resolutely oppose regionalism led by political illiterates,” he added.

READ MORE: WATCH: Malema and Ndlozi push a policeman at Winnie’s funeral

This led to a backlash, to which the EFF leader responded:

“I won’t be intimidated or blackmailed by bed wetting boys, welcome home [Burna Boy]. South Africa is a home for all Africans, kill me for defending an African brother, bloody cowards,” he said.

While Burna Boy appears to be the main reason behind Malema getting dragged, other tweets described the EFF as arrogant, calling the party’s policy of open borders in Africa into question and posting videos of incidents of alleged assault involving the EFF leader.

Malema and his party have also been accused of inciting racial division, in what appears to be a hangover from a backlash that started following the Springboks winning the World Cup, a victory EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, as well as Malema and other party members – did not celebrate.

The backlashes against the EFF and its leader are unusual, as the party is known for having an active social media presence and a lot of support on various platforms, including Twitter.

Burna Boy threatened his former musical collaborator AKA – real name Kiernan Forbes – with violence after he complained on social media about South Africa losing awards and soccer matches to Nigerians.

The Nigerian musician – real name Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu – also said he would not perform in SA “again for any reason”, but was subsequently booked as one of the headliners of an anti-femicide concert, Africans Unite, which was meant to take place at Hillcrest Quarry, Cape Town, on November 23 and Sun Arena, Pretoria, November 24.

It was reported on Wednesday that the concert, which featured other artists including Sho Madjozi and Kwesta, has been cancelled after Burna Boy withdrew from the line-up, following an outcry which included Tshwane Entertainment Collective sending an open letter to Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa, expressing disapproval of Burna Boy’s involvement.

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)

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