WATCH: Mall of Africa’s Kream restaurant refuses to meet Malema and his entourage

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema on Wednesday vowed to block the entrance of Kream restaurant at the Mall of Africa in Midrand, Johannesburg.

This was after the owners of the restaurant refused to meet with him during his oversight visit to restaurants to check the employment ratio between South African citizens and foreign nationals, as well as to inspect their labour practices.

Malema refused entry

Earlier, when Malema arrived at Kream with his entourage, he was informed by a representative of the restaurant that they would not entertain him because he was not conducting any “official government business”.

Kream’s representative presented the EFF leader with a letter, presumably from their lawyers, stating that if Malema had any questions about their labour practices he should send questions in writing and they would respond to him.

“We’ve been advised that we are not in a position to meet with you because you’re not on any official government business,” the restaurant’s representative said.

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But Malama was having none of it, telling the man he did not want the letter and protested that Kream had agreed to meet with him prior to his arrival.

“I’m here to meet you and I’m coming peacefully… the problem is that people come to you so peacefully and you guys just decide to be difficult,” Malema said.

Asked by Kream’s representative under which capacity he was conducting an inspection of the restaurant’s labour practices, Malema said he was there as a member of parliament (MP).

He accused the representative of being arrogant and of having a negative attitude by refusing to engage with him.

I don’t need a sanction to be here. When I do my oversight, I don’t need sanction from anyone.

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– Julius Malema

‘Striking a balance’

Speaking to the media after the management of Kream refused to meet with him, Malema said he was only there to talk and did not ambush anyone.

“I made an appointment with them but white arrogance will not allow them to be subjected to scrutiny. Everybody who does business in South Africa is subjected to scrutiny,” he said.

Weighing in on claims by locals that restaurants were hiring foreign nationals and sidelining South Africans, Malema claimed that some restaurants were “instigating feuds between African people” by not striking a balance when they are hiring.

He said they should ensure that they strike a balance in their employment practices.

“You must strike a balance and it must not even be reduced to numbers.

“There must be a sufficient presence on the shop floor. You will see that these people will work together [and] co-exist and there will not even be any problems.”

‘Workplace terrorism’

Meanwhile, the DA slammed Malema’s inspection of restaurants, saying his visit was just “a desperate exercise in xenophobic, political grandstanding masquerading as legislative oversight”.

DA MP and spokesperson on employment and labour, Michael Cardo, said the EFF leader’s visit amounted to a form of “workplace terrorism” and he should be roundly condemned.

“The idea that Julius Malema has the authority to impose himself on a private employer – armed, like an apartheid-era labour inspector, with a clipboard and a kit to conduct a kind of pencil-test – is both laughable and dangerous,” Cardo said in a statement.  

He said the EFF had no legal standing or right to conduct such oversight of restaurants, adding that their visit served only to undermine and destabilise labour relations.

“This populist party with little or no coherent policies will seemingly do anything to attract attention to themselves with scant regard for the rule of law”.

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