Pretoria, South Africa- As the continent marks Africa Day today, the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the third-largest political party in South Africa, Julius Malema, has urged France to leave Africa alone.
Malema was speaking ahead of a planned memorandum regarding the party’s assertions about the role of France in Africa to be given to the French Embassy.
“The French government and regime have played a direct role in the coup d’etat and illegal and unlawful overthrow of many governments in the African continents. We commend and appreciate the work of revolutionary anti-colonial forces that are beginning to undermine French colonialism and call on all neo-colonized people under the so-called Francophone to reject France’s colonial rulership and control,” said Malema.
At the same time, Sinawo Thambo, EFF’s national spokesperson, said the party is committed to fighting the micromanagement of African affairs by France.
“We will not accept continued micromanagement of African affairs. We are not a junior in global affairs. We are Africa and we must stand up in terms of our own affairs, in terms of all sectors, economically, culturally, politically and otherwise.
So we are confronting France because France continues to be a festering parasite within the body politics of Africa. They have continued to micromanage West Africa, they continue to determine the currencies of Francophone nations in terms of where they keep their monetary reserves. There can be no economic emancipation without the freedom and emancipation of Africa in its entirety,” said EFF’s national spokesperson.
In addition, Thambo criticized African Union (AU) citing it’s a pale shadow of what it was founded upon.
“It accommodates colonialists and land thieves like Israel. The Southern African Development Community just exists for the sake of it, wars and imperialism are allowed to fester. Africa Day is a day that we celebrate under a cloud of conquest,” added Thambo.
