In a profound Damascus road experience, Julius Malema says “sorry to all women”, and particularly to President Jacob Zuma’s rape accuser for his sexist remarks.
The ANC Youth League leader on Wednesday instructed his attorney to withdraw his appeal against an Equality Court case in which he was found guilty of hate speech and harassment. The case was brought by Sonke Gender Justice, a pressure group.
Malema told students in 2009 that Zuma’s accuser had had a “nice time” because “those who had a nice time will wait until the sun comes out, request breakfast and ask for taxi money”.
In an exclusive interview with The Star in Sandton on Wednesday, Malema said he would obey the March 2010 court verdict and pay the R50 000 fine to a centre for abused women, and pay Sonke Gender’s legal costs.
The usually discourteous youth leader looked remorseful when he said: “I am sorry, sorry and very sorry about that. And commit not to repeat the similar mistake again.
“Issues of women are sensitive issues, and once a person says ‘I am offended’, it doesn’t matter whether you are right or not, you must have the capacity to say sorry.
“I want to say sorry to that lady and to the Sonke Gender, and I commit to pay them that R50 000 and pay their legal fees for that case.”
Malema said his sexist remarks were against his family values.
“As a child who has grown up under a single mother and a grandmother, and as a child who has been nurtured by women, I should have known better that once you speak about women and they say ‘Look, we are offended by what you said’, you don’t even argue with that…
“I send my apology unreservedly… particularly to the mothers and the women in the African National Congress. I have got great respect for them and I will continue to respect them,” he said.
He admitted to “an error of judgment” and has also apologised to Zuma for opening “that old painful chapter”. Zuma was acquitted of rape in 2006, and the league has thereafter taunted his accuser.
However, Malema was not repentant on another Equality Court case brought by AfriForum, a minority rights group. He is accused of hate speech for singing a slogan containing the lyrics “Shoot the Boer”.
“I am going to use every little piece of legislation to challenge any judgment that seeks to undermine… and ban the liberation songs… I will never agree to that, it is my revolutionary obligation to defend the history and heritage of the organisation,” he said.
The 30-year-old Malema – who was re-elected ANCYL president for a second term last weekend – said he would not do a third term, but would go home to Limpopo “and continue to contribute”.
Ironically, for someone who sings about shooting the farmers, Malema wants to be a farmer.
“I will go and do my own small-scale farming in my village (next to Seshego in Limpopo)… I have 10 cattle in Zimbabwe given to me by (Reserve Bank) governor Gideon Gono and comrades,” he said.
He was adamant that the nationalisation of the mines was the way forward for South Africa since “BEE has not worked”. He said ANC leaders “in the majority” agreed with him.
He repeated the league’s resolution that the ANC leaders should open up the succession debate.
“We are worried that the closing of the succession date, in the manner the leadership suggest, will deny membership and the society in general an opportunity to reflect what kind of leadership we need in the ANC…
“We must talk about it every day in our lives without being afraid that we will be told we are out of line.”
Zuma and his national executive committee have banned any early debate about succession after it threatened to divide the party again. The ANC is expected to hold its elective conference in Mangaung next year.
“We are left with a year-and-a-half, when are we going to discuss (succession). Are we going to discuss for six months? Then it… will no longer be about discussing the type of leadership we want; it will be about sharing positions,” Malema warned. - The Star