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Julius Malema criticises Ghana's evacuation of citizens from South Africa, calls for African unity against global inequality
South African opposition politician Julius Malema has criticised Ghana's decision to evacuate some citizens amid xenophobic violence fears, arguing it risks escalating tensions. While condemning violence against migrants, Malema blamed global inequality, saying the true enemy is the economic system that keeps Africans poor while a tiny elite accumulates wealth.
South African opposition politician Julius Malema has criticised Ghana's decision to evacuate some of its citizens from South Africa amid growing fears of xenophobic violence. Speaking to the media, Malema questioned the timing of the evacuation, arguing that Ghana's response risks escalating tensions and creating negative perceptions of South Africans on the continent.
While Malema condemned violence against undocumented African migrants, he placed the blame squarely on global structural inequality rather than on individual nations. He argued that an unemployed South African and an unemployed Zimbabwean are both victims of the same global system of inequality and exploitation. A Nigerian street trader and a South African worker are not enemies, he stated.
Malema invoked the words of African liberation leaders to support his argument for continental unity. He quoted Kwame Nkrumah's assertion that the forces that unite Africans are greater than those that keep them apart, and Thomas Sankara's warning that imperialism often occurs in subtle forms including food, aid and blackmail.
The politician reminded his audience that African liberation itself depended on cross-border solidarity, noting that South African freedom fighters found refuge in Zambia, Tanzania, Angola, Mozambique, Algeria, Ethiopia, Libya, Zimbabwe and Nigeria. He emphasised that Mozambique and Angola suffered destabilisation because they supported the anti-apartheid struggle.
Malema concluded with a stark assessment of global power dynamics, stating that in the global system, Africans only truly have one another. Europe will defend European interests, America will defend American interests, China will defend Chinese interests, and Africa must defend African interests, he declared, calling for Pan-African solidarity over division, Channels Television reported.