Malema displays double standards ... again
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Julius Malema's long-standing admiration for "Mad Bob" has always been public knowledge, says the writer. File photo: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi Julius Malema's long-standing admiration for "Mad Bob" has always been public knowledge, says the writer. File photo: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi
EFF leader Julius Malema has again showed himself to be a talented hypocrite, says Moloko Moloto.
Johannesburg - Julius Malema lately showed himself to be a talented hypocrite. The EFF leader’s thoughtless assertion that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe didn’t have a hand in the killing of people en masse was an insensitive political ruse.
Malema once again laid bare his habitual double standards when he addressed a media briefing last Thursday.
He labelled President Jacob Zuma and the ANC government murderers, claiming they killed 34 Lonmin miners, who were mowed down by police in Marikana in August, 2012.
In his pursuit of justice for the injured miners and families of the deceased, Malema promised to fight tooth and nail within the legal frameworks. It’s heartening that he’s fighting for those killed by state machinery.
But at the same briefing, Malema the human rights’ champion, unsurprisingly praises Mugabe. Mugabe is clearly in Malema’s good books.
The young politician tells us the old man is a revolutionary.
But listen to Malema’s blatant lie: “He (Mugabe) has never presided over the mass killing of our people,” Malema said.
Really?
So, the self-proclaimed chief advocate of Pan-Africanism and famous political science student has never heard of the Gukurahundi massacre?
Either Malema is unaware of the thousands of civilians butchered by Zanu-PF’s armed wing in Matebeleland in the 1980s or he is feigning ignorance for political expediency.
Many civilians in Matebeleland north were killed under conditions of barbarity by some of Mugabe-aligned riflemen. Some of Mugabe’s killing troops were trained by the late North Korean dictator Kim II Sung.
Mugabe’s government imposed a food embargo on the residents of Matebeleland south. Scores were held in detention camps, similar to Nazi Germany’s, for years without trial.
Countless civilians bore the brunt of all these atrocities. Matebeleland was known to be the stronghold of Mugabe’s political rival Joshua Nkomo.
Malema and his red beret brigade should do themselves a favour and read Breaking the Silence, Building True Peace. A report on the disturbances in Matabeleland and the Midlands 1980–1989, compiled by the Legal Resources Foundation and the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe.
Mugabe termed the killings as a “moment of madness” in 1999, but the nonagenarian never apologised. Victims were never compensated and no one has ever been held responsible. Thousands were killed.
The Catholic report indicates that the scars are still etched in the memories and bodies of the victims of the politically- charged killings.
According to the report, Ndebele speaking families were left destitute, without breadwinners and shelter.
The marauding Shona-speaking battalions aligned to the Mugabe regime inflicted permanent terror in them.
“Possibly hundreds of murdered victims have never been officially declared dead. The lack of death certificates has resulted in a multitude of practical problems for their children, who battle to receive birth certificates and for their spouses who, for example, cannot legally inherit savings accounts,” the report read in part.
It further mentions that possibly thousands of people who were either victims of physical torture or forced to witness it, continue to suffer psychological disorders such as anxiety, insomnia and distrust of senior government officials.
Malema’s long-standing admiration for that megalomaniac dictator, “Mad Bob”, has always been public knowledge. It’s no small wonder that the EFF commander endlessly praises Mugabe – he is treated like royalty every time he visits Zimbabwe. Your guess is as good as mine as to what they discuss.
Malema generally has an inbred liking for despots. He has eulogised the thieving and slain Libyan tyrant, who ruled his countrymen by fiat over four decades.
Granted, Malema isn’t the only local politician that venerates leaders with questionable human rights’ record.
Personally, I couldn’t give a tinker’s cuss who Malema regards as a hero. But given that the EFF commander-in-chief has ambitions to be president of South Africa, many things that he utters do matter.
He told the media briefing that he doesn’t care if other African countries have eternal presidents. Yet he insisted he would never accept that in South Africa.
It’s yet another contradiction.
* Moloko Moloto is a reporter for The Star.
The Star