EFF: Malema won’t trade revolutionary beliefs for UK visa

Malema was informed by the UK Home Office this week that his second application for a visa was also denied.

Last month, Malema was denied a visa to attend the 11th Annual Cambridge Africa Together Conference at Cambridge University after arriving at OR Tambo International Airport.

The EFF maintains the refusal was politically-motivated, blaming the British High Commission for its “deliberate failure to process the visa application".

“The UK and all of its allies can keep their visa’s, and we will keep our Africa and a commitment to support the oppressed of the world, especially the Palestinian people,” said the EFF.

According to the UK Visa Office, Malema’s outspoken remarks—particularly his chant to “cut the throat of whiteness,” and the controversial anti-apartheid song “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer”—formed part of the justification for refusal. 

However, the EFF notes that the South African Equality Court, cited in the UK’s correspondence, found no intent in Malema’s statements to slaughter white people, and recognised the song as part of a liberation heritage rather than literal genocide."

The UK Home Office labeled Malema “extremist,” a statement the EFF has dismissed: "The UK has declared the Commander in Chief and President of the EFF an ‘extremist’ whose presence in the UK would not be conducive for the public good. … all further applications by our President are likely to be denied unless he changes his posture on the issues which characterise him as a revolutionary.”

British officials also said Malema’s visa denial was tied to his support for Hamas.

The EFF condemned the decision as "cowardly political censorship".

“For a nation that preaches its commitment to democracy, the UK has revealed itself as an intolerant bully that seeks to impose its beliefs on the world without challenge, while denying democratically elected leaders of other nations the opportunity to express themselves in their country,” they stated.

The party reaffirmed its ideological commitments.

“We will continue to pursue constitutional and democratic means to ensure that land is expropriated without compensation and that the means of production are controlled by the African majority. We join the world in declaring that. 'From The River To The Sea, Palestine Will Be Free!'”

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