Julius Malema (born March 3, 1981 in Sechego Township, South Africa) is a South African politician known for his fiery outspoken nature and inspiring orator. He first entered the national political field and as President (2008-12) As the leader of the African National Congress Youth League and the Economic Freedom Warrior, the left-wing party he helped launch in 2013. He became a member of Parliament in 2014.
Malema was raised by her mother, a domestic worker and her current grandmother in Limpopo. When he was nine years old, he reportedly joined the Maspatosera (ANC) group of the African National Congress (ANC). He joined the ANC Youth League in 1994 and quickly took on the position of local and regional leadership of the group. Malema also worked at the South African Student Conference, becoming the state president in 1997 and served as president from 2001 to 2004. He was elected in April 2008. The ANC Youth League is due to a narrow majority during a controversial group meeting.
Malema was led by the support of the Vice President of the ANC Jacob Zuma, who later became South Africa's president. His expression of support drenched a considerable amount of criticism, he is doing “killing for Zuma”. (He continued singing it, and he was later convicted in a South African court in 2011 for a song cited as “hate speech.”) He was convicted of the woman who condemned Zuma of rape in 2006 in April 2010 for using “hate speech” on comments from Zimbabean and Publicaan and Robert's umgabean and Robean and Robean in April 2010. Mugabe's rival Morgan Zvangirai blew the rebukes from ANC and Zuma into a verbal altercation with BBC journalists from a press conference when Zuma was trying to mediate between the two men. Malema responded to Zuma's responsibilities by turning on the leader he once defended stubbornly, and instead began to criticize him in public. Malema was eventually called to an ANC disciplinary hearing in May 2010. The terms of the plea bargain agreement required him to publicly apologise for his actions and if he engaged in similar actions within the next two years he was subject to a halt from the party.
The following year, Malema remained popular with populist messaging within and beyond the ANC Youth League. This expropriated white-owned farmland, which resonated with many, in the sought to nationalize mines and banks. He was re-elected as president of the ANC Youth League in June 2011. He also continued his rhetoric and actions that the ANC considered destructive. In August 2011, the party convened another disciplinary hearing after calling on the government of neighbouring Botswana to overthrow. The incident and others included further criticism of Zuma – accusing him in a provocative department within the organization, disgracing it and giving the ANC to sow intolerance. In November, the ANC announced that Malema was found guilty of the first two counts and would be suspended for five years. His appeal was rejected in February 2012, when the ANC expelled Malema, as the ANC also said his actions during the appeal period. Malema again sued, and in April 2012 the ANC supported the expulsion.
After months of discussion about the formation of a new party, in July 2013, Malema Economy Freedom Soldier (EFF). He will become the Commander-in-Chief. The party's official launch took place later that October. The EFF styled itself as a “radical, left-wing, anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist movement” fighting for economic liberation. The party's platform reflected many of the many controversial propositions that Malema supported while at the ANC. They also called for many initiatives to increase access to quality education and improve health and welfare services. The new party won around 6% of the national vote. This is enough to provide seating for Malema and 24 other EFF colleagues in the 400-seat Parliament. It also worked well in the 2019 election, winning almost 11% of national votes. The number of seats in the Parliament increased to 44, and Malema maintained his seat. In the 2024 national election, the EFF saw a slight decline in the proportion of votes, down to just under 10% of votes. The election was also the first time the ANC had not won a large portion of its seats in the parliament, and Malema expressed his willingness to discuss the formation of a governing coalition with the ANC.
However, the issue of Malema was not limited to the aforementioned disputes with the ANC and the South African courts. His expensive tastes drew repeated criticism, particularly as they appear to contradict his populist message, claiming that in September 2012 the South African Revenue Service had been ruled that Malema was owed almost $2 million in unpaid taxes and raised money. That same month, the National Prosecutor accused him of committing money laundering. Additional charges for corruption, fraud and assault were later filed against Malema. His trials on these charges have been repeatedly postponed.
