By Zukile Majova
- Malema sang “Kill the Boer” and other old struggle songs at a campaign stop in Koppies, Free State.
- His party has lost ground across the country and has not won a single municipality in ten years.
EFF leader Julius Malema is under pressure to win votes — and he is turning to dangerous tactics.
While campaigning in Ward 16, Koppies in the Free State, Malema led supporters in singing divisive songs from the apartheid struggle era.
One of them was “Noma Kubi”, made popular by former president Jacob Zuma.
The lyrics encourage supporters to continue the struggle even if the police shoot at them. Zuma used the song in the 2014 elections when the African National Congress won 62 percent of the vote.
Malema also sang his signature chant, “Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer” — a song President Cyril Ramaphosa has publicly distanced the ANC from.
During a trip to Washington DC, United States president Donald Trump said Malema should be arrested for spreading racial hatred.
He said: “That man is going all over South Africa. That’s not a small party. That was a stadium that holds a hundred thousand people, and I hardly saw an empty seat.”
Ramaphosa responded by saying: “Our government policy is completely, completely against what he was saying.”
Former president Thabo Mbeki told the SABC that the “Kill the Boer” chant should not be taken literally. He said the ANC never supported the killing of civilians — even during the height of apartheid.
The Economic Freedom Fighters has been losing votes in municipal by-elections across the country and hasn’t won a municipality since it launched ten years ago.
The last by-election it won was in September 2023 — also in the Free State.
The party is also bleeding key leaders. Founding deputy president Floyd Shivambu has defected to Zuma’s new party, uMkhonto Wesizwe.
That leaves Malema with few options — and plenty to lose.
Pictured above: Julius Malema campaigning in Koppies, Free State.
Image source: EFF
