Malema not impressed with Sunday Times branding Mbeki a mampara

Former president Thabo Mbeki earned the dubious distinction of being named Mampara of the Week in the Sunday Times this past weekend, for expressing the view that he “never met one single Zimbabwean who said I want Mugabe deposed”.

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema clearly disagrees with the publication branding the former president a mampara, responding on Twitter only with a dismissive “Mxm”.

At a memorial for Mugabe in KwaZulu-Natal last week, Mbeki had nothing but good things to say about Mugabe, who passed on the week before at a hospital in Singapore.

Mbeki called Mugabe “a combatant and true African patriot”, among other things.

READ MORE: Malema causes outrage with Mugabe’s advice to ‘only trust a dead white man’

His speech divided Twitter, and was somewhat eclipsed in the media by a video clip which circulated, showing a man said to be Mbeki’s bodyguard seemingly swapping water bottles.

At the EFF’s own memorial service for Mugabe, Malema also highlighted only the positive aspects of the former Zimbabwean leader’s legacy. Both before and at the memorial, he has made it clear that he isn’t interested in holding Mugabe responsible for the controversial aspects of his rule.

Malema has called Mugabe a “perfect human being“, said that history will absolve him, and expressed the view that it was sanctions and the IMF, not Mugabe, which led to Zimbabwe’s problems.

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) says it plans to take action against Malema for a tweet consisting of a slide show of EFF-branded Mugabe quotes, including: “The only white man you can trust is a dead white man”.

Mxm

— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) September 22, 2019

While Malema and Mbeki are in agreement over Mugabe, the former president has been harshly criticised by both the EFF leader and his party over other issues.

Malema accused Mbeki in June of an ongoing “assault of the Winnie Mandela household“, after the former president called for action to be taken against South Africa’s ambassador to Denmark, Zindzi Mandela, should her tweets on land be found to be contradicting President Cyril Ramaphosa’s stance.

Malema’s “assault” allegation is also likely a reference to the time Mbeki was caught on camera pushing late struggle icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela away at an event.

READ MORE: Malema accuses Mbeki of an ongoing ‘assault’ on the ‘Winnie Mandela household’

The EFF leader’s criticism of Mbeki came just after a statement from the party, written by its spokesperson, Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, criticising Mbeki, who according to Ndlozi “failed with flying colours to resolve the land question” while in charge of SA.

“Essentially, the former president comments on things happening on the ground which he has no knowledge of, true to his aloof self,” the statement said of Mbeki’s reaction to Zindzi’s tweets.

According to Ndlozi, the tweets were the “genuine cry of many generations of African people who want to call this country their own”.

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)

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