Cape Town, South Africa – South Africa's far left politician was famous for accusing British authorities of his anti-Western rhetoric of denying a visa to speak at an event at Cambridge University on political grounds.
Julius Malema, leader of the South African Economic Freedom Fighter Opposition, said the decision was effectively to ban students from speaking to and “attempts to silence opposition political perspectives.”
He posted to social media platform X that he had assured his visa was being processed, but he received a “remorse letter” informing him that his application was not successful when he was in Johannesburg or Tambo International Airport awaiting a flight to London.
Malema, who also uses the title “Commander” of his party, previously demanded that Britain be compensated for reparations and apologise to African countries for colonialism. The lawmakers and his party also accused the British monarchy of playing a leading role in the slave trade and colonial abuse.
The BBC reported that after seeing the leaked letter from the UK High Commissioner to the Malema Effective Party to South Africa, the UK's Home Office personally apologised for failing to process Malema's visa in time, saying it was due to procedural issues. According to the BBC, a letter from High Commissioner Antony Phillipson cited the “unfortunate timing” of the recent British National Holiday.
The Home Office did not comment.
Malema was scheduled to speak at an African-themed event held at Cambridge University on Saturday, his party said.
Fire truck politicians who were expelled from the then-National Congress Party of South Africa in 2012 have recently taken anti-Western positions in the war in Ukraine and the Israeli-Hama conflict. He expressed his support for Russia over Ukrainian invasion and denounced the West for supporting and fundraising what he called Israel's “genocide” against the Palestinians in Gaza.
In October, the UK denied South African MP Mandra Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela, a visa for traveling and speaking on pro-Palestinian events in several British cities. Mandra Mandela said he was notified by the Home Office that his visa had been denied due to his support for Hamas, a Palestinian extremist group that Britain considers a terrorist organization.
