Senior members of the EFF confirmed that party leader Julius Malema and others are not planning to withdraw their visa applications to visit the UK after they were not provided with a visa to attend a meeting at Cambridge University this weekend.
Malema was invited by the African Cambridge Association to speak at the 11th Cambridge African Africa Conference, but was unable to leave Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg due to the lack of visa arrival in time.
On boarding social media platform X, Malema said she was at the airport when she received the letter four hours before departure and informed her that she had been denied a visa.
“The British authorities have refused a visa to London for the Cambridge meeting this weekend and provided no substantial justification. It is clear that this is an attempt to silence opposing political perspective,” he said. “This is unacceptable and has no spines.”
His party denounced the decision with a spokesman. The incident is “It is merely an expression of the bureaucratic process used to suppress political opposition and ban the EFF's voice from building global solidarity against Western imperialism.
Senior Party leaders said senior party leaders would not withdraw their visa applications; It cites the possibility of future invitations from the African Association's Cambridge Association or other UK entities.
In an interview Thursday, sources said they have no intention of withdrawing their visa application to the UK while the parties still deliberate on the issue.
“We may have other invitations and we will not be blocked by this denial,” the source said.
Another senior source within the party said that its views on the US and Malema could have played a role in the “follow denial” of his visa application.
“The US has been speaking out against Malema due to his stance on white hegemony, and the UK and the US are on the verge of signing a trade deal, so the UK may not want to put it at risk.”
In a letter to President Godrich Gardee, Vice President of the UK's South Africa High Commissioner for South Africa, Antony Phillipson said the Home Office had faced delays in processing his visa applications in time for his trip.
Philipson said the UK's Home Office wanted to “personally apologize” for “they were unable to process their applications on time due to the steps required to consider a visa application and the unfortunate timing of recent UK bank holidays.”
He said he agreed to refund the application fee, saying he would “take a personal interest in the matter.”
“We recognize this as a very unfortunate, especially as the delegation was applied in advance and some people were paid for priority services,” the letter read.
The EFF framed the case as part of a broader attempt to silence critical voices against imperialism and capitalism.
“We will continue to develop relationships with all those who appreciate the EFF's message,” the party said in a statement.
“We will not discourage people from building global solidarity with imperialism and capitalism, and we would also like to thank the students at Cambridge University for recognizing and appreciating the commander's voice as a leader in imperialist resistance and Africa's independence.”
Meanwhile, lobby group Afriforum praised the UK's decision not to grant Malema a visa and said it was calling on the international community to take punitive action against Malema to “kill Boer Chant.”
“International intervention has become necessary to ensure that Malema cannot act on immunity,” said Kallie Kriel, CEO of X's Group.
Political analyst Sandil Swana said external pressure could have influenced the UK's decision.
“It's not easy to say this is completely innocent. The decline in visas was polite, but it's hard to say it's not intentional,” Swana said.
Swana further argued that the timing of the visa denial is questionable given the UK's negotiations regarding its current trade agreement with the US.
“The UK is in the final stages of negotiating a trade agreement with the US and seeking to be treated as one of the US's favorite junior partners after Israel. So I don't know if this is an effort to send a warning message that the US and the UK may have action on the EFF and ANC leaders.Swana said.
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