Bloemfontein -
EFF leader Julius Malema on Sunday accused President Jacob Zuma of having betrayed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
“Since Jacob Zuma surrendered the life of Brother Leader Gaddafi to imperialist murderers, Africa is lacking of a Pan African voice which should unite all progressive forces,” Malema told delegates at the party's elective conference at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein.
“Gaddafi's death has surrendered our continent to even intense exploitation by imperialist forces.”
On April 10, 2011, following talks in Tripoli, Zuma announced that Gaddafi had accepted a roadmap for ending the civil war in that country. Libyan rebels rejected the plan. Gaddafi was captured and killed on October 20 that year.
Malema said South Africa's foreign policy, particularly in consolidating the Pan African agenda, was not convincing and selling the continent short. He said more than 80 percent of funding for the African Union and the Pan African Parliament came from the European Union.
“Gaddafi was the only one who was willing to fund the African Union and was the only one who took practical steps to unite the African continent.
“In honour of colonel brother leader Gaddafi, the EFF should fight for the political and, most importantly, economic unity of the African continent,” he said.
Malema called on delegates to develop a thorough understanding of the religious fundamentalism that had engulfed the African continent, given the violence in Kenya and Nigeria.
“The EFF's struggle for economic freedom should inspire all Economic Freedom Fighters across the continent and diaspora,” he added.
Malema said the party's new central command team, to be elected at the conference, should visit African countries and explain the party's vision for the continent.
“We should do so because it will never be wise to wage a struggle for the economic emancipation of the African continent without the support of Africans.
“The internationalist character of the EFF means that we are an international organisation and movement, which should mobilise all the progressive forces in the African continent,” he said.
After his speech, Malema toyi-toyied and sang “kill the boer”, sending the hall into an uproar. - Sapa