PROFILE: Does Every African Nation Need A Julius Malema?

Whether or not South Africans in particular and Africans in general agree with the fact that Malema is a man of the people, the truth still remains that his vocal attitude and daring public speech punchlines are sure needed in every African nation. His voice, filled with surety and conviction is one that African dictators don't want to hear. Of course, in a country where presidents rule like monarchs through blood founds of terror, intimidation and lynching of dissenting voices, a person like Malema will not be welcomed. the vocal and outspoken nature of his personality has without doubt been inspiring youths around Africa. Unfortunately, it is to be regretted that these youths haven't been seen to have started taking action yet.

We as African youths must see in this gentleman something that has to do with our economic freedom and liberation. This is so because our geriatric political leaders of Africa have seemingly created poverty in order to hold us captive and incapacitated since a hungry stomach has no strength to speak out and protest about bad governance. In Julius Malema I see a young Sankara and like him, Malema believes that Africans can only be free from colonization and occupation through economic freedom and liberation. i pray seriously that the evil minds of Machiavellic political stooges shouldn't impose Sankara's faith to this bright and young revolutionary. If we as Africans see it only fit for us to eliminate our own powerful voices then I am sure our liberation and freedom is like a thousand years away.   

As earlier intimated, we all know how African politics works right? Now that political landlords hear there is a young man in the person of Malema pouring knowledge and inspiring youths to seek economic liberation, they now see a threat to their political ambitions. like they know how to do best, they have and are still calculating means of discrediting the young revolutionary. African youths must take the challenge to change things withing the economic life of their nations. I guess you sure asking how that can be done when most African regimes are filled with brain dead geriatrics as politicians? i will not pretend to have an answer to this question but sure that is what we need to do and from the south African perspective, Malema seems to be doing the right thing.  

Julius Sello Malema was born on the 3^rd of March 1981. He is married to his long-time sweetheart and with her, he has two sons: Munzhedzi and Kopano. Malema also has a son named Ratanang from a previous relationship with Maropeng Ramohlale. Educationally, Malema graduated from Mohlakaneng High School Limpopo. In 2010, he completed a two-year diploma in youth development through the University of South Africa and in 2011, he enrolled at the same university for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and African Languages, and graduated in March 2016.

He is a member of the South African Parliament and the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters a political party he founded in July 2013. He previously served as President of the African National Congress Youth League from 2008 to 2012 before forming his own party in late 2013. Malema was a staunch member of the ANC before his expulsion in April 2012. He is known to occupy a controversial position in South African public and political life after rising to the spotlight with his support for African National Congress president, and later President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma. Malema was elected as chairman of the Youth League branch in Seshego and the regional chairman in 1995. In 1997 he became the chairman of the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) for the Limpopo province, and was elected as the national president of that organisation in 2001. In 2002, he led a Cosas march by school pupils, through Johannesburg marked by incidents of violence and looting. In April 2008, this young fighter was elected as the president of the ANC Youth League in April 2008.

He was described by both Zuma at least before they fell out sometime in 2012 as the "future leader" of South Africa. Some unappreciative critics paint Malema as a "reckless populist  with the potential to destabilize South Africa and to spark racial conflict.” Malema was convicted of hate speech in March 2010 and again in September 2011. In November 2011 he was found guilty of sowing divisions within the ANC and, in conjunction with his two-year suspension sentence in May 2010, he was again suspended from the party for five years. 

The unrepentant Malema was again in 2011, convicted of hate speech after singing "Shoot the Boer" a song sang in the days of liberation from Apartheid by protesters and activists in the 80s and 90s to show their hatred for white settlers in South Africa. On 4 February 2012 the appeal committee of the African National Congress announced that it had found   evidence in aggravation of circumstances, leading them to impose the harsher sentence of expulsion from the ANC on Julius Malema. This young revolutionary lost an appeal to have his expulsion from the ANC overturned in 2012 and by September of the same year, he was charged with fraud and money-laundering. Of course that is how African politics works right?

Malema became a vocal advocate of nationalising South African mines. Although the ANC, including Mining Minister Susan Shabangu, and President Zuma refused to adopt this as ANC policy. Despite this rejection from party hierarchy, Malema continued to advocate this position until his expulsion from the party. It is to be noted that Malema’s opinions on nationalization according to some South African vox popoli are shared by South Africa's large National Union of Mineworkers.

In June 2013 Malema started canvassing for his own political party called the Economic Freedom Fighters. He immediately started appealing for funds for the new political party. His visit to Nigerian 'Prophet' T.B. Joshua for 'spiritual blessings' in August 2013 with some EFF members also elicited controversy and media attention thereafter. It is to be noted that the EFF won 25 seats in the National Assembly in the 2014 general election and Malema was sworn in as a member of parliament on the 21^st of May 2014 but was later dismissed from the assembly on the 19^th of June 2014 after refusing to withdraw a remark he had made  accusing the ANC government of murdering the miners involved in a miners’ strike.

All has not been rosy for Malema. He was listed in Time's Least Influential People of 2010, whereas Forbes magazine named him as one of the "10 Youngest Power Men In Africa" in September 2011. On a more sour note, some South African critical minds have denigratingly described this young revolutionary as a fascist and a demagogue while The Sowetan  magazine columnist  Andile Mngxitama described him as "an opportunist who raised these issues [nationalisation, land reform etc], not to solve them, but to trick the poor who have been waiting for a better life for all for almost 20 years now under your party's rule ... Instead of leading the new struggle as a selfless leader of the poor, you only pay lip service to the plight of our people while you amass great amounts of wealth through your political influence."