Johannesburg - Julius Malema has urged students at Wits University and other tertiary institutions to remove the statues of apartheid leaders and other vestiges of white supremacy.
The EFF commander-in-chief said that would make white South Africans appreciate that they were not superior to black people.
Malema, who was addressing the EFF students’ command summit at Wits University, warned, though, that collapsing white supremacy should not mean substituting it with black people because that would only serve to perpetuate the domination of one race over another.
“As you leave here, every symbol of apartheid must be attended to as a practical programme coming out of this summit,” Malema said to applause from about 200 delegates.
Malema told them to remember that Wits University was “the heartland of white capital” because of its historical ties with the wealthy Oppenheimer family and Jewish people.
He told students to demonstrate a political will by being steadfast in their demands.
To demonstrate his point, Malema took a swipe at embattled Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.
“You cannot project yourself like Zwelinzima Vavi, who wants to be a big politician and nothing comes out of it. Today he tells journalists that he is going to make a big announcement, and the big announcement is that he is not leaving Cosatu.
“If there is a symbol of apartheid that you don’t do anything about, you must know that you are not contributing to the struggle for emancipation,” Malema said.
Calls for the removal of statues of apartheid and colonial-era leaders have in less than a month swept across universities, including Rhodes, Wits, Stellenbosch and Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
Malema said the students’ protests were an onslaught against white supremacy.
“It’s through collapsing of these types of symbols that white minority will begin to appreciate that there is nothing superior about them.
“So, one step into a corrective direction is a very important step and, therefore, should never be questioned when Rhodes falls.
“It’s not an event, it’s a process. We collapse Rhodes today, then collapse all other symbols and begin to educate white minority that you are not superiors and that you are equals.”
Malema, however, cautioned against black domination, saying South Africans must live together in friendship and peace.
“Ordinarily, you (white people) must be under us, but because we are not obsessed with domination of others, we believe we are equals and must enjoy equal rights and opportunities.
“We seek a better world which is characterised by friendship and peace. But there will never be friendship and peace if the other one think they are superior.”
The Star