Pushing racial buttons, a young firebrand stirs up South Africa
For a while, he strode South Africa like a colossus. He was Julius Malema, the ruling African National Congress鈥檚 Youth League leader, and if he didn鈥檛 like you, he鈥檇 tell you to 鈥渏ump.鈥�
But last month, the for undermining party leadership and for denouncing the Botswanan government of President Ian Khama, in conflict with ANC policies. And Malema had been taken to the ANC鈥檚 disciplinary panel before. In May 2010, he was fined 10,000 South African rand (about $1,200) and forced to take anger-management classes after he criticized President Jacob Zuma. ( until the ANC's internal appeal process ends, a fact of some horrified fascination for some South Africans, who thought that perhaps the suspension decision had closed the door on Malema.)
It is this very intemperance in public speaking that explains South Africa鈥檚 fascination with this not-so-young youth leader 鈥� he is 30. How in the world, many South Africans wonder, did this young man make it into politics in the first place?
The short answer to that question is that Malema rose to prominence as the ANCYL鈥檚 leader. Together with the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the ANCYL endorsed Jacob Zuma to replace President Thabo Mbeki as head of the ANC. Having installed Zuma in power, Malema then set his eyes on changing ANC policy on everything from the ownership of farmland to the nationalization of mines, and anyone who disagreed with him was likely to be branded a traitor, or worse.
In April 2010, Malema kicked out a BBC journalist, Jonah Fisher, from a press conference at the ANC鈥檚 headquarters. After Malema had railed against rich, selfish people living in Johannesburg鈥檚 posh Sandton neighborhood, Mr. Fisher had pointed out that Malema himself lived in Sandton.
That outburst prompted a number of satirical songs on South African radio stations, including one called ".鈥�
In March of 2010, Malema faced charges for hate speech because of his penchant for Given that the murder of white farmers in South Africa appears to be on the rise, courts eventually agreed that a song encouraging people to kill boers, or farmers, was perhaps insensitive at best.
Malema continued to sing the song, but changed the lyrics slightly to 鈥渒iss the boer.鈥�
In October of this year, Malema got himself in trouble for while making the very reasonable statement that poor black kids in townships should have the same educational opportunities as the better-off children in Indian neighborhoods.
If Malema were Queen Elizabeth, 聽Or perhaps not.聽
Malema鈥檚 antics have naturally been a boon for newspapers, catering to a white readership constantly on the lookout for threats to their survival, as well as to black middle-class readers who frankly expect their country鈥檚 political leaders to behave themselves better. But Malema has also been a boon to comedians like聽 and Trevor Noah, who has .
Yet while some political observers have been eager to , saying the ANC leadership has essentially dismantled the youth leader鈥檚 base of support and his access to money and power, it is important to remember that Malema wasn't a misfit on the street, mumbling to himself. At every rally, there was an enthusiastic audience of .
When Malema talks of nationalization of mines, or the confiscation of white-owned farmlands, or the equitable education of black children, his words reverberate in a country where most major mining firms and other businesses remain in the hands of whites, where farmland remains in the hands of whites, and where rampant unemployment and illiteracy still affect black South Africans much more than other communities. Even comedians will admit that those underlying problems are not a joke. If Malema doesn鈥檛 give voice to that sentiment, someone else eventually will.
