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Julius Malema

Mr Julius Malema, a former youth leader of South Africa’s ruling ANC party, now president of the Economic Freedom Fighters, probably sees himself as a radical, forthright man who is dignified and speaks sense.

Some in his country think he is “fearless” and a “warrior” who has taken President Jacob Zuma and his ANC head-on.

To us the proud people of Zimbabwe, Mr Malema is none of the above but an unsound, noise-making head whose brand of politics leads nowhere.

On Monday, he launched an unprovoked attack on President Mugabe and Zanu-PF, an attack that expectedly drew a stinging rebuke from our government and the ruling party.

He spoke about the President’s age and supposed poor health which he alleged warrant his removal from office. Mr Malema also accused other Zanu-PF leaders of being cowards who are scared to pressure the President to step aside.

His slander made “good” copy for those media houses that are always sniffing around for an opportunity to attack President Mugabe, his party and Government. We take great exception when anyone, particularly a foreigner even if they pretend to be friends of Zimbabwe, arrogates to themselves the responsibility to want to influence or express an opinion on who must run this country and for how long.

Mr Malema must be told in no uncertain terms that he is lost, he is venturing in a territory not meant for him. It is for Zimbabweans to decide who must govern them. It is Zimbabweans who elect their leaders in democratic elections. It is Zimbabweans who can invoke appropriate laws to remove a leadership they are unhappy with.

Zimbabweans gave President Mugabe and his party a roaring electoral mandate in July 2013 to govern their country until elections next year. In December 2014, Zanu-PF gave President Mugabe the mandate to run the party until the next congress in 2019. The ruling party’s structures restate that constitutional position from time to time.

Now Mr Malema thinks that he can overthrow the will of the people, expressed so resoundingly and democratically in July 2013 and December 2014?

The millions of Zimbabweans who voted for their President in July 2013, knowing full well that they were giving him a five-year mandate, will take this as an inexcusable insult.

The Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Dr Chris Mushohwe, said the Government found Mr Malema’s rhetoric irritating and uncalled for.

“What made Malema’s statements irritatingly despicable was an informing presumption that in spite of his threadbare, prodigal political career, he visualised himself as important enough to comment and pass judgment on the leadership credentials and political career of so iconic a figure as President Robert Gabriel Mugabe,” said Dr Mushohwe.

“His preposterous claim that his treacherous, pro-white, neo-colonial politics find inspiration in the figure and politics of President Mugabe is a hard-to-suffer insult. There is just no meeting point between the two politics, let alone between this puny, struggling person and President Mugabe. This side of the Limpopo, Julius Malema shines as a loud-mouthed “Gucci” revolutionary who acquired the infamy of deserting and betraying politics of liberation as espoused by the ANC. Clearly his inspiration lies elsewhere, and no amount of taping from the proud record of Zanu-PF and Zimbabweans, or of invoking the name of our leader and President, will grant him even a patina of respectability, whether at home, on the continent or abroad.

“Simply, he is nothing more than a shrunken, talkative joke. And in typical fashion of political charlatans, he seeks to make up for his inner political deficiencies by projecting himself as a trans-border, continental politician who fancies himself big and cute enough to pass comment and judgment on developments elsewhere on the continent.”

Mr Malema must focus on the politics in his country, not to waste his time commenting on politics abroad that don’t add value to his electability.

Insulting President Mugabe and Zimbabweans who voted for him will not deliver the economic freedom that Mr Malema thinks he can deliver to his compatriots. That will not give land to the millions in his country who were dispossessed of the resource by apartheid not so long ago. That will not equalise economic opportunities in his country where blacks, including him, continue to be second rate citizens in what must be their own country. His rhetoric will not help him win the next election against ANC.

We can only imagine that he uttered the unwarranted vitriol on the person of the President, Zanu-PF and the people of Zimbabwe because of the influence he is getting through his association with the reactionary, Boer opposition party in his country — the Democratic Alliance.

It is a lost cause, Mr Malema must be told, far more powerful forces abroad have tried to separate President Mugabe from his people but failed.