Malema clarifies that he never called for violence

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema, has come out to clarify that he never called for violence, during his delivery of the party’s political report, at the elective conference currently under way in Nasrec, south of Johannesburg.

Malema’s utterances on violence being inevitable to change the status quo sparked uproar, but Malema said during a media briefing, that his quotation of the Marxist political philosopher Frantz Fanon, was misunderstood.

“You want to speak about violence, and you attribute that to me, when I am in the speech, quoting what Frantz Fanon says on violence- that our conditions are a product of a violent colonial conquest, and those who want to hold to the benefits of that conquest- are not going to give over those things, without putting up a violence and therefore violence is inevitable. So, when you call for the expropriation of land without compensation, it’s violence against those who have the land that they got, that was ill-gotten.”

Meanwhile, Malema has refused to explain the absence of the party’s senior official and former spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, at the party’s third- national people’s assembly, currently under way at Nasrec, south of Johannesburg.

There’s been questions around Ndlozi’s status in the party, as nominations for the party’s top officials get under way this afternoon at the elective conference.

Related video: ‘Dr Ndlozi remains a member of the EFF’ – Julius Malema

Malema said that people who are supposed to be at the conference, are present.

“We’re not going to answer the question about Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, you’ve got his number and some of you talk to him, call him.”

“I am not responsible for Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, 90% of the people who were here, who were expected to be here, are here- that’s what matters. Whoever is not here, was not supposed to be here- from the beginning. So, you’re not going to reduce this organisation to some individual, we’re going to refuse that,” he added.