“No Bloodshed over Land, We Want White People in SA” — Malema
Nic Andersen, The South African, April 12, 2018
Over the course of the last few weeks, EFF leader Julius Malema has looked to reassure white South Africans that they are wanted in the country. While things are tense regarding land expropriation without compensation, the EFF has stressed that there will be “no bloodshed”.
Malema was speaking at the EFF hosted memorial service for Mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela on Wednesday afternoon.
According to the EFF leader, the media doesn’t always convey the full EFF message about land.
“Mama wanted the land and she said she did not want the madness of driving white people over the sea. We say that all the time in the EFF, but it does not suit the narrative of those that own the media.
“We want white people, there is no problem with white people. White people have naturalised here. They are like our trees and mountains; like our nature.”
In his defence of whites being in the country, Malema even went as far as saying that if people do not want white people in SA, it’s the same as saying that they do not want trees on earth.
“We would be an ugly nation without white people. We complement one another and that is what makes us a unique nation. Our demand for land is not driving whites to the sea, all we are saying to the white people is: ‘Share the land.’”
It seems that all the EFF is asking for, is for black people to own the bigger portion of land in South Africa because they are the majority. He explained that white people will also be given plenty of space in terms of land.
“It must be the other way around. With the policy of willing buyer, willing seller, even when you have the money, if there is no land [then] you cannot sell the land.”
Malema also emphasised that there is no fight with white people about the land, just a robust debate.
“No white man has been killed in South Africa because of the land… There is no case in South Africa of a white person being killed because of the land.
“There is no case in South Africa of any white person being forced out of his property, even [by the] the EFF. We are not going to do so by killing any white person. There will never be blood, and that is what Mama taught us.”
