LISTEN: Julius Malema says he doesn’t want to be ‘swallowed’ by academia

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has not ruled out studying further, but he said he would not want to be swallowed by academia and forget his “activism” duties.

Malema was speaking to Radio 702’s Azania Mosaka after graduating with a bachelor of arts honours degree in philosophy from the University of South Africa (Unisa) earlier this week.

“I just want to remain an activist. I don’t want to be swallowed by academia. Once you do a PhD you want to do other degrees; it can be very interesting, it is extremely challenging, so the more it is challenging, the more you want to prove to yourself that you can do it; so before you know it, you are swallowed.

“I think a master’s degree is not a bad idea, but anything beyond that, one has to think about it properly,” Malema said.

He said after graduating on Wednesday he went home with his family to have a “small” celebration.

Malema, who has been mocked for his poor matric results before, said those who wanted to succeed in life should decide what they wanted to do and at what pace.

“You should not allow certain people to set a pace for you and tell you what you can do and what you cannot do. The difficult one [degree] is the junior one. It demands a lot of attention, as it has too many subjects. The second one is manageable, but the quality must meet the academic standard,” he said.

On the choice of his degree, Malema said he chose philosophy, as he was trying to diversify his academics.

He has a BA degree in political leadership and citizenship from the same institution.

Malema also spoke about the challenges of studying and having a social life.

“After the [ANC] Youth League, there was a formation of a new political party, so you cannot reduce yourself to be a socialite, you become a leader. Then there was marriage. My wife came in when I was concluding my first degree. She was very supportive, it became a lifestyle,” he said.

Listen to the full interview below: