DA’s Cachalia reminds Malema of thousands slaughtered under Mugabe

A draft resolution proposed in parliament by Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema on Tuesday afternoon was met with strong disapproval from Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Ghaleb Cachalia.

The resolution, which sees Malema calling for Mugabe to be honoured in parliament, including for his controversial Fast Track Land Reform programme, can be read about in detail here.

Cachalia responded by bringing up the slaughter of the Matabele people by the fifth brigade under Mugabe.

“In 1988 when the honourable Malema whose hero the late Robert Mugabe is was about six years old I travelled to Harare to commemorate the anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights at a concert featuring many international luminaries,” he said.

“Little did I know at that very time that Mugabe’s fifth brigade henchmen was indiscriminately massacring 20,000 of his Matabele compatriots.

“The fifth brigade was different from all other Zimbabwean army units, it was directly subordinate to the prime minister’s office and not integrated into the normal army structures.

“They conducted public executions in Matabeleland, victims were forced often to dig their own graves in front of family and fellow villagers

“I had no idea that this man who fought an illegitimate racist regime and laid solid foundations in the nation’s education was also laying the basis of a corrupt and venal state,” he said.

READ MORE: Malema changes topic from Springboks to Mugabe: ‘Let’s deal with real issues’

Cachalia then quoted ancient Roman historian Tacitus.

“These plunderers of the world, after exhausting the land by their devastations, are rifling the ocean: stimulated by avarice …

“To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp, this they give the false name of empire; and where they create a desert, they call it peace”.

Cachalia said that while Mugabe’s supporters see him as a liberator, his opponents see him as a ruthless tyrant.

“Zimbabweans now live in fear,” he said.

He also noted the country’s economic struggles under Mugabe: “The descent into the morass of failure was relentless for a country that used to be the jewel of Africa,” he said.

He also expressed the view that those who have themselves been oppressed often become the “worst kind of tyrant”.

Malema has made his unwavering support for Mugabe clear since the late Zimbabwean leader’s death. At the EFF memorial service for Mugabe in September he highlighted only the positive aspects of the former Zimbabwean leader’s legacy. Both before and at the memorial, he 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.

Malema responded by calling Cachalia an ageist, and argued that even though he, Malema, was younger than Cachalia, he had still achieved more than him.

He told Cachalia to stop hiding behind his “mother’s dress”. He said “you always irritate us with your parents’ credentials as if they are yours.

Cachalia’s mother was the late struggle hero Amina Cachalia. His father, Yusuf, had been another leading light in the struggle.

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