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Julius Malema

Lovemore Mataire Senior Reporter
South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema has saluted President Mugabe’s pro-people policies and blamed the prevailing economic problems on the flight of “white capital” from Zimbabwe.

Addressing journalists in South Africa on the Marikana Commission Report yesterday, Cde Malema described President Mugabe as a genuine African leader committed to the revolutionary radical transformation of the continent.

“President Mugabe is the only leader who knows that for real change to come, Africans will have to go through the necessary pain, exactly what Zimbabweans are going through now,” Cde Malema said when asked about his relationship with President Mugabe.

His comments coincided with President Mugabe’s visit to South Africa where he is attending an Extraordinary sadc Double Troika Summit, which will formulate strategies to restore political stability and security in Lesotho.

“We don’t see what’s happening in Zimbabwe as anarchy,” he said. “We don’t blame it on President Mugabe, we blame it on capital . . . (It is) because they disagree with him politically, they use their economic muscle to punish the people of Zimbabwe.”

Cde Malema said President Mugabe is the only African leader who continues to stand against the West and who understands what it means to be a real African.

The EFF, Cde Malema said, might not agree with President Mugabe on some issues, but from a broader perspective, the Zimbabwean leader represented the kind of Africa people wanted.

“How do you say a man who has won elections is a tyrant?” he asked. “He has never presided over any massacre of our people; he continues to lead a party that advocates for very radical economic policies in Zimbabwe.”

Cde Malema lambasted those who claimed President Mugabe had overstayed his welcome and those who hold the view that the presidents should only stand for two terms.

He said he believed Africa should be governed by a leader like President Mugabe.

“We want an Africa where trade will happen freely,” said Cde Malema.

“We want an Africa that will one day have one currency and have one president and one government which will preside over this continent.

“We are one. These borders were imposed on us by colonialism.”

The EFF leader has never made his admiration of President Mugabe, who is on record saying South Africa is in need of a second liberation, a secret.