The EFF is spitting fire after its leader, Julius Malema, was forced to make a U-turn at the O.R. Tambo International Airport in what was meant to be his travel to London, England.
Malema was headed for the UK to speak at Cambridge University’s Annual Africa Together Conference themed “The Making of Africa’s Future Presidents”.
However, just as Malema thought he was collecting his visa before boarding the flight to London, he received a “letter of regret” from the British High Commission in South Africa informing him that his visa application could not be processed timeously and thus he was not going to enter the UK.
The red berets are furious at what they have characterised as a deliberate attempt to censor Malema.
In a strongly worded statement on Wednesday, EFF National Spokesperson Sinawo Thambo slammed the move by the British High Commission as an attack on academic freedom and political speech.
The party believes that Malema’s radical views on international politics have rendered him persona non grata in the UK.
Essentially, charged Thambo, Malema was now banned from entering the UK borders, and his sin is speaking against imperialism and for the oppressed all over the world, especially in Africa.
“The EFF is well aware that this is a reflection of the attitude of imperialism against the commander-in-chief and the EFF, who has been a strong and critical voice against the United Kingdom for its role in the atrocities of colonialism, particularly the role of the British monarchy in the slave trade, its role in the sustaining of the genocide of the Palestinian people by Israel and the continued resistance by Britain regarding the paying of reparations to victims of colonial conquest,” charged Thambo.
“The United Kingdom is not only suppressing academic freedom by essentially banning the president of the EFF from travelling to the country but is also engaged in an open declaration of war against those who dare to stand up to warmongers such as the British monarchy, which has the blood of the people of Kenya, whom they brutalised during the Mau-Mau rebellion, still dripping from their hands.
“This bureaucratic ban is a response to the condemnation by the CIC of blood thirsty murderers such as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who destroyed Iraq under the guise of looking for non-existent weapons of mass destruction.”
Thambo added that the Winnie Mandela House outfit was convinced that British authorities were still bitter over a statement the EFF issued on the passing of Queen Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor.
“At the time, while many were sending heartfelt condolence messages to the UK, the EFF was the lone voice that characterised the Queen for her role in the pillaging of Africa to enrich England through colonial conquest.
“As the EFF, we want to reaffirm our statement on the death of Elizabeth Mary Windsor and remind the bureaucracy in the UK that their monarchy still owes the world a huge debt for the crimes they committed against humanity through colonialism,” said Thambo.
“In fact, one of the first visits the president of the EFF was going to make was to the grave of Elizabeth Windsor, to confirm that the woman who was at the centre of the pain inflicted on Africa and her people had indeed departed from this world and that our people can find justice and peace through her departure.”
The party said it was humbled that Cambridge had invited Malema, and will stop at nothing in spreading an anti-imperialist and global solidarity message to like minded people across the globe despite the British manoeuvre to break their spirit.
