SOUTH AFRICA: THE RISE OF JULIUS MALEMA

It was the first time since South Africa became a democracy in 1994 that the government issued such an order. Many commentators have suggested that the military alert was an over-reaction, and it only helped propel Malema beyond what many think he is; a common rabble-rouser. In the event, scores of journalists and even a […]

It was the first time since South Africa became a democracy in 1994 that the government issued such an order. Many commentators have suggested that the military alert was an over-reaction, and it only helped propel Malema beyond what many think he is; a common rabble-rouser. In the event, scores of journalists and even a satellite television truck were on hand to give Malema coverage as he addressed the soldiers, who had earlier been disciplined for indiscipline, to mobilise and save their jobs. And the soldiers were not the first group to give Malema this honour of guest speaker; mineworkers now look up to him as their ‘leader’ and icon.

Julius Malema is only 31 (he was born 3 March 1981: for example, he was only eight when Mandela was released from prison in 1990), but he quickly rose to become the president of the Youth League which, together with the Women’s branch of the party under the influence of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, facilitated the famous Zuma coup against former President Thabo Mbeki. Malema, according to Wikipedia and other sources, occupies a notably controversial position in South African public and political life, having risen to prominence with his support for Zuma. Significantly, he has been described by both Zuma and other South African politicians as the ‘future leader’ of South Africa.

Malema’s rise was phenomenal. By the time he was 20 in 2001, he was national president of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS). He was elected president of the ANC Youth League in April 2008, and re-elected unopposed for a second term on 17 June 2011. At several public gatherings, Malema has advocated nationalisation of mines, the mainstay of the South African economy. He also advocates the return of white-held land to blacks without compensation (a la Zimbabwe, which he regularly visits) asking: ‘Why should we pay for our land?’ To further articulate his views, Malema led a South African youth delegation to Venezuela to study President Hugo Chavez’s nationalisation programme in April 2010. However, Malema’s views of South Africa’s mines are not shared by the country’s large National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which is allied to the ANC, and supports Zuma.

The person Malema is currently challenging, incumbent President Zuma, was no less controversial. By all political standards, Zuma’s rise to power was sophisticated, suave, unprecedented. This was a man in disgrace too, with corruption and molestation charges around his neck. Yet he was able, with dexterity and political savvy, to shake off all those yokes and execute a coup against a sitting president (Thabo Mbeki) who had sacked him as Deputy President earlier. Zuma, with Malema’s help and that of others, took over the ruling party and ultimately the presidency. Add to all these, Zuma is a man with little formal schooling, though very learned in the ‘school of the bush’, and in prison, and in life. Malema also boasts of only a diploma, though he is presently enrolled in university, studying for a BA.

So it should come as no surprise that it is becoming a South African political dance for ‘disgraced’ politicians to execute coups against incumbents. Malema was expelled from the ruling ANC earlier this year for indiscipline. In all his addresses to striking miners over the past few days, Malema thinly hides the object of his ridicule, Zuma, whom he wants overthrown at the forthcoming ANC convention in December. And he also rails against the NUM leadership, and the mostly-white mines owners.

Reports a South African newspaper this week: “In a speech punctuated by the cheers of thousands of miners and the blowing of whistles and vuvuzelas, firebrand politician Julius Malema called Tuesday for a national strike in all of South Africa’s mines since police shot and killed 34 striking miners and wounded 78 on August 16 at Lonmin PLC’s platinum mine at Marikana. Lonmin said in a statement Tuesday that only 3 percent of workers had shown up. ‘There must be a national strike. They have been stealing this gold from you. Now it is your turn. You want your piece of gold. These people are making billions from these mines,’ Malema said, leading the miners in chants of ‘Kill the Boer,’ (Dubul’ iBhunu) a song from the anti-apartheid struggle referring to white farmers” (and one of the reasons he was expelled from the ANC).

In the mostly white-controlled South African media, Malema today is the new target for the cartoonists (who have since begun to apparently tire of lampooning and caricaturing President Zuma). Malema gets much coverage, and criticism, for his controversial statements. Cartoonists, says Wikipedia, wishing to draw attention to his inexperience (and youthful over-exuberance), frequently drew him dressed in nappies. Some analysts depict him as an orator, with a broad appeal in the young, poor, and disadvantaged black electorate. More recently, as Malema’s public profile has grown, he has been described by critics in the media as a ‘demagogue’. But Forbes Magazine named him as one of the ‘Ten Youngest Power Men in Africa’ in September 2011.

In an article dated 20 June 2011, not long after Malema was re-elected ANC Youth Wing President, Barney Mthombothi, Editor of South Africa’s Financial Mail, said: “[T]he other reason for the Malema phenomenon is the vacuum, even the cowardice, at the centre of power. That such a person can thrive is a sign of our times. Malema is a consequence, not the cause, of our dilemma…there’s…a huge army of disillusioned young people who’ve been left behind or who feel that the new democracy is not delivering fast enough. Malema’s demagoguery falls on fertile ground. Society has failed them. Malema is their only hope. Their penury is Malema’s prosperity.”

Another criticism is that Malema lives like the elite he often criticises. When asked by a journalist why he wore such expensive clothes, Malema waxed philosophical, asking rhetorically, “So you want to see us in rags? No! We have to dress well. We need to impress black youngsters and give them hope. No one gives hope in tattered clothing.”

To his supporters – who call him Juju – he is God-sent, and an answer to Zuma’s apparent failure to really address the yearnings of the black majority. Malema’s constant singing of Dubul’ iBhunu (Kill the Boer) is clearly reminiscent of his former leader Zuma’s constant singing of the great anthem of the anti-apartheid struggle, Khawuleth’ Umshini Wam (Bring Me My Machine Gun), used by Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC during the struggle against apartheid.

Zuma would really need his political machine gun now.