ANCYL slams Malema’s ‘verbal diarrhoea’ following his Marikana comments

The African National Congress National Youth Task Team (ANC NYTT) has slammed Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader, Julius Malema for criticising President Cyril Ramaphosa for his and the ANC’s support for the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

Malema was speaking during the EFF’s protest outside the United States (US) Embassy in Pretoria on Monday morning,  when he said the president had no right to speak on the matter because of Marikana.

Ramaphosa had been seen by the EFF as responsible for killing over 40 miners during wage protests in Marikana in 2012, as he owned shares at Lonmin Mine at the time when the protest action took place.

“The ANC NYTT is dismayed by verbal diarrhoea which Malema resorted to where he called President Ramaphosa names during his gathering with his entourage at the US Embassy in Pretoria yesterday,” the party said in a statement on Tuesday.

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The party said that Malema had “failed dismally in his attempt for relevance and that his conduct was a slap in the face to the struggle to defeat systematic racism that black people continue to be victims of”.

“Demagogues and bigots like Malema will not contribute anything meaningful to the noble cause of confronting and defeating the deep seated racial inequalities that Africans are subjected to in the US and elsewhere in the world.

“Malema is known for exhibiting plethora of thuggery and his ill-mannered gimmicks disguised as revolutionary will never fool South Africans.

“He dare not forget that not only does President Ramaphosa command respect of majority of South Africans who overwhelmingly endorsed the ANC he leads, but the broader Africa supports him, hence they entrusted him with chairing the African Union (AU).

“Our diaspora and the rest of the world also holds him in high esteem and his voice carries weight on any global platform,” the NYTT added.

The NYTT further said “narrow-minded capitalists, nincompoops and comical characters like Malema, who thrived on anarchy, will continue to be rejected as they had nothing to offer except insults”.

“In his verbiage, Malema was at his usual self-praising theatrics with the usual career saving nods by his supporters who have to outdo themselves to please him, least they are removed from whatever roles he has assigned them.

“We know that Malema is beyond reproach and is a lost cause and therefore we urge South Africans to reject his foolishness at a time we are all galvanised to fight against racial injustices where black people’s lives do not matter in certain parts of the world.

“Black people cannot continue to be killed by racist elements in law enforcement agencies and the law must severely punish those behind such horrific deeds,” it continued.

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The party said it will continue to mobilize young people across the country to join campaigns to ensure that black people do not continue to be victims of police brutality and all manners of barbarism.

“It cannot be correct that black people continue to be victims of race based violence and here in South Africa, we have shown the rest of the world that racism will never be allowed to manifest in society and where it raises its ugly head like it has in the US, we must confront and defeat it.

“We call for global solidarity in the fight against racism, hard gained freedoms of black people around the world were never free and we can’t fold our arms when they are under threat as that will erode countless struggles led by Dr Martin Luther King, Oliver Tambo, Peter Mokaba, and many others,” the party concluded.

(Compiled by Molefe Seeletsa)

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