Malema condemns attack on farmer Donovan Marx in South Africa
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Zambian Observer
Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, condemned the attack on farmer Donovan Marx, attacked near Ventersdorp, South Africa. At a rally in Soweto on 31 October, he called for those responsible to be arrested and criticised security measures in rural areas, reports The Zambian Observer.
Julius Malema, leader of the South African Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), condemned the attack on farmer Donovan Marx and defended the chant « Kill the Boer » at a rally in Soweto on Saturday 31 October, reports The Zambian Observer. Marx, 50, was shot and stabbed on Wednesday near Ventersdorp, in North West province; his attackers allegedly cut off both his ears.
Malema called on police to identify and arrest those responsible. He said that attacks on farmers must stop, while asserting that the struggle chant was not intended to call for murder. He also criticised the government of national unity for providing insufficient protection to rural communities and rejected allegations of white genocide, acknowledging that attacks on farmers were fuelling those accusations.
The US State Department called on South African officials to condemn calls for racial violence and make rural crime a policing priority, according to The Zambian Observer, which cited a Fox News report. Police have established no link between the chant and the attack on Marx.
This position comes after Washington accused South African elected officials of exposing Afrikaners to violence. The previous day, Malema had also presented his proposals for Johannesburg’s squatted buildings in a transformation project.
