EFF to picket at ‘land thief’ Johann Rupert’s farms in Stellenbosch and Mpumalanga

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema is expected on Wednesday to lead a picket outside the farms owned by billionaire businessman Johann Rupert in Stellenbosch, Western Cape.

Arrival of Jan Van Riebeeck

The march coincides with the arrival of Dutch navigator and colonial administrator Jan van Riebeeck in South Africa on 6 April 1652.

The EFF has described Rupert as a “land thief” and believes that his wealth was derived from the European settlement in Africa.

“The EFF will confront the land thief, Johann Rupert in Stellenbosch. His wealth was born on the 6th of April 1652, when his colonial ancestor arrived on our shores.

“The EFF will picket and demand the return of our land at his doorstep,” the party said.

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Wednesday’s picket has been dubbed the “EFF land day picket at Rupert farms”, and will see the Red Berets take part in marches at Rupert’s farms in the Western Cape and Mpumalanga.

Malema will lead EFF supporters in Stellenbosch while his deputy, Floyd Shivambu, will lead the EFF picket at Rupert’s farms in Mpumalanga.

370 years later

The EFF has bemoaned that after 370 years since Van Riebeeck docked his ship in the then Cape of Good Hope (now Cape Town), Africans remain landless without ownership of natural resources and continue to be excluded from the broader South African economy.

EFF national spokesperson Sinawo Tambo said 6 April 1652 was significant because it was the day that “the ancestor of all land thieves and benefactors of colonial crimes” arrived in SA.

“He arrived here with three ships under the pretense of establishing a refreshment station. And upon his arrival, Jan van Riebeeck took it upon himself and his fellow criminals to take the land from native people and that is when the problems of South Africa began,” Tambo told Newzroom Afrika outside the Rupert Museum in Stellenbosch.

“If you want to look at any underdevelopment or any problem in terms of race in SA, it begins in 1652,” he added.

Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe

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