SA: Malema renews solidarity with Palestine at EFF manifesto launch

The leader of South Africa's third largest political party addressed a packed 56,000-capacity Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday (Feb. 10).

Julius Malema who launched the EFF's election manifesto renewed his commitment towards the people of Palestine and claimed support for Russia, saying that "NATO is disguising as Ukraine" .

“We thank you, the people of South Africa, for loving the people of Palestine. Continue to show them love against apartheid Israel. Russia is our home and...Palestinian is our home, and Palestinians must know they've got a home in South Africa. We will never retreat. We are not scared of the Jewish power.”

The leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters took aim at Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing him of being a "warlord".

The military campaign conducted in Gaza by Israel's war cabinet has killed over 27,000 Palestinians and wounded over 66, 000.

“The people of Palestine are not against the Jewish nation. The people of Palestine do not want to kill Jewish women and children. The people of Palestine want their self-determination. If there is anyone who is killing innocent people, that's (Israeli Prime Minister) Netanyahu. He's a warlord, an international criminal, and he must be charged.”

The date for this year's general elections is yet to be announced.

Land redistribution and the country's electricty crisis are top priorities for the Economic Freedom Fighters

Their slogan was announced as "Jobs and land now! Stop load-shedding".

Popular among the youth

The EFF is popular among many disenchanted South Africans, especially the youth, due to its radical policies which include the expropriation of white-owned land and the nationalisation of mines and banks.

Malema announced the Economic Freedom Fighters slogan for the coming elections as "Jobs and land now! Stop load-shedding".

A former ANC youth leader who was expelled from the party before forming his own, Malema is among the ruling party's staunchest critics and an outspoken lawmaker who has become a thorn on the side of the ANC and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The party garnered 10% of the national vote in the country's 2019 elections to become the third largest opposition party.

Malema said the party would stop the power blackouts that are currently impacting the country's economy and would create jobs through, among others, the creation of social housing and road infrastructure. 

He also promised to jail politicians and public servants who are implicated in corruption and vowed to introduce incentives for police to fight the country's high prevalence of crime.