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Julius Sello Malema (born 3 March 1981) is a politician. He is the founder and leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a Communism political party.
Before the foundation of EFF, he served as a president of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) from 2008 until his expulsion from the party in 2012.
As a child, Malema joined the ANC and was a highly engaged member while growing up; he was ultimately elected president of its Youth League in April 2008 under controversial circumstances. While president, he was an early proponent of Nationalization South Africa's mining industry and expropriating land without compensation. He rose to national prominence as an outspoken supporter of Jacob Zuma, then ANC president and later President of South Africa.
However, Malema's relationship with Zuma strained immensely following numerous disciplinary deliberations against him by the ANC; by 2012, he was campaigning for Zuma to be removed from office, ahead of the ANC's 53rd National Conference. In April of that year, months before the conference was due to take place, Malema was expelled from the ANC for bringing the party into disrepute. The following year, he founded the EFF, and was elected to the National Assembly in 2014, winning 25 seats in the assembly.
Malema has been embroiled in a variety of legal issues throughout his political career: he has been convicted of hate speech, in March 2010 for demeaning comments about Zuma's rape accuser. In 2012, Malema was charged with fraud, money laundering and racketeering. After numerous postponements, the case was dismissed by the courts in 2015 due to repeated delays by the National Prosecuting Authority.
In 2022, Malema gave a speech against a white man who attacked EFF party members. As a consequence of the speech, in 2025, Malema was convicted of hate speech for according to the court "calling for racists to be killed". Malema has applied for an appeal to a higher court.
On 1 October 2025, Malema was convicted of five offenses, including the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, illegally firing a weapon in public, and reckless endangerment. The offences related to an EFF rally, at which Malema fired between 14 and 15 live rounds on a stage, in front of 20,000 EFF supporters. Malema will undergo pre-sentencing in January 2026, where he faces a minimum prison sentence of 15 years. Furthermore, as per the Constitution of South Africa, should he receive a sentence of 12 months or more, without the option of a fine, and fails to have the judgement overturned on appeal, Malema will be barred from serving as a Member of Parliament for five years.
The outcome of the vote was immediately disputed, including by conference delegates who claimed that incidents of intimidation had prevented them from voting. The conference devolved into disorder, with some delegates throwing chairs, and adjourned without concluding its business. Malema later criticised the "unbecoming conduct" shown by delegates at the conference. Following an intervention by the mainstream ANC, the league held a special closed congress in Johannesburg in June. On the recommendation of ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe, Mofokeng agreed to affirm the results of the election held in April.
Ahead of the 2009 general election, Malema was nominated to stand for election as a Member of Parliament but declined on the grounds that Parliament was "for old people". Nonetheless, he campaigned energetically for the ANC and for Zuma, the party's presidential candidate, in the election. In April 2009, for example, he and the rest of a league delegation were asked to leave Port Elizabeth's Dora Nginza Hospital, where they had been canvassing support in the wards. After the election, Malema launched a programme of school visits in an apparent attempt to reach the country's youth. Kgalema Motlanthe, then the ANC deputy president and Deputy President of South Africa, criticised the visits as disruptive to the students' education.
Although Malema remained an ally of Zuma in the months after his election as President of South Africa in May 2009, they fell out publicly by mid-2010. Malema later explained that he had turned on Zuma when he realised Zuma was incapable of fulfilling the left-wing policy agenda that had secured his election as ANC president in 2007; according to Malema, Zuma took a harsher stance towards the league only after it rejected him. According to an alternative interpretation, however, Zuma adjusted his stance towards Malema and the league in 2010 β notably by instituting disciplinary proceedings against Malema β because he realised that Malema's outspoken militancy constituted a political liability for him or a political threat to him.
Nonetheless, following this announcement, Malema was involved in a further series of especially well publicised controversies later in March and in early April. The first concerned Malema's singing the controversial struggle song " Dubul' ibhunu" in defiance of a high court ruling, as well as related remarks by Malema about the death of Eugène Terre'Blanche .
Second, from 2 to 5 April 2010, Malema led an ANC Youth League delegation on a controversial working visit to Zimbabwe. The league said that it aimed to use the trip to strengthen its relationship with the ZANU-PF Youth League, as well as to conduct a fact-finding mission on Indigenization. Malema met with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and other ZANU-PF politicians, and in public statements he was complimentary of ZANU-PF, comparing it favourably to Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). His statements sparked fears in some quarters that the ANC would attempt to imitate ZANU-PF's Land reform in Zimbabwe programme; there were also concerns that Malema's partisan comments would undermine ongoing efforts by Zuma's government to broker a political settlement between ZANU-PF and the MDC. City Press reported that ANC officials had asked the Youth League to postpone its trip, though Malema told the media that Zuma had personally endorsed it.
In addition, on 8 April, Malema received international media attention for his conduct during an altercation with Jonah Fisher, a BBC journalist. At a media briefing about his visit to Zimbabwe, Malema mocked the MDC for having offices in affluent Sandton and became enraged when Fisher interjected to point out that Malema himself lived in Sandton. During the ensuing exchange, Malema called Fisher a "bastard", a "bloody agent", and a "small boy". The following day, Malema said that he was "not remorseful", describing Fisher as "disrespectful" and the United Kingdom as a country "whose media always undermine the credibility and integrity of African leaders". The ANC condemned his conduct in a statement.
In the aftermath of Zuma's press conference, Malema remained defiant and was quoted telling the media that "even President Thabo Mbeki", Zuma's former political rival, had not responded so strongly in public "when he differed with the Youth League". The following week, the ANC announced that Malema would face formal internal disciplinary proceedings, with charges stemming from his public remarks about Zuma as well as from the incidents of ill discipline already noted by Zuma. The charges were pursued in the ANC's National Disciplinary Committee, then chaired by Derek Hanekom and staffed by various ANC leaders viewed as unsympathetic towards Malema; Malema was represented in the proceedings by ANC Treasurer-General Mathews Phosa.
Nonetheless, at the Youth League's national elective conference in Midrand on 17 June 2011, Malema was elected to a second term as league president. He stood unopposed after his presumptive opponent, Lebogang Maile, declined a nomination to stand against him. Ronald Lamola succeeded Lungisa as deputy league president.
When the hearing began on 30 August 2011 at the ANC's headquarters at Luthuli House in central Johannesburg, a rally of Malema's supporters devolved into violence as some of those present broke through the police barricades and threw glass bottles and stones at police officers and journalists. The police dispersed the gathering with a water cannon, mace, and a warning shot. The violence was condemned by senior ANC leaders and Malema addressed the crowd to appeal for restraint.
As a result of its finding, the National Disciplinary Committee suspended Malema from the ANC for five years and required him to vacate his position as president of the ANC Youth League. Malema publicly expressed his intention to appeal the ruling and disparaged the disciplinary process as politically motivated and an attempt to "settle scores". On 4 February 2012, his appeal was dismissed, but the committee said that it would allow him to present arguments in respect of mitigation of sanction. Following further oral arguments, on 29 February, the committee released its decision, which not only dismissed Malema's arguments on mitigation but expelled him from the party entirely. The committee said that, in addition to being a repeat offender, Malema had shown no remorse and had refused to accept the ANC's decisions, suggesting that "the likelihood of him respecting the ANC Constitution is remote". On 24 April 2012, Malema exhausted the appeals process when the chairperson of the internal appeals committee, Cyril Ramaphosa, confirmed that his expulsion had been upheld.
He also made controversial remarks during a visit to Zimbabwe in October 2012, saying that white people in Africa had appropriated mineral resources belonging to indigenous people and that compensating those affected by land expropriation would be tantamount to "thanking them with money for killing our people". He said, "Seeing blood is not what we are scared of. As long as that blood delivers what belongs to us, we are prepared to go to that extent".
Malema's visit to Nigerian religious leader T.B. Joshua for 'spiritual blessings' in August 2013 with some EFF members also elicited controversy and media attention.
At the party's inaugural national elective conference in Bloemfontein in December 2014, Malema was elected, unopposed, as president of the EFF. Floyd Shivambu, who was ejected from the ANC Youth League at the same time as Malema, was elected his deputy. Both Malema and Shivambu were re-elected unopposed in December 2019. Floyd Shivambu joined Jacob Zuma's MK Party on 15 August 2024.
Malema has been ejected from Parliament several times. In June 2014, he was ejected from the State of the Nation debate after he refused to withdraw a statement to the effect that the ANC government had murdered mineworkers during the Marikana massacre. He and several other EFF members were ejected from Zuma's 2015 State of the Nation address after they loudly insisted that they be permitted to question Zuma about the Nkandlagate; Malema said in response that South Africa was a police state. In September 2015, he was forcibly removed from the house by the Serjeant-at-arms, and subsequently suspended for five days, after refusing to retract the accusation that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa was a "murderer" because of his actions during the Marikana massacre. He was forcibly ejected again during Zuma's State of the Nation addresses in 2016 and 2017.
At a media briefing at EFF headquarters on the same day, Malema stated "there is actually black genocide in the U.S., they are killing black people in the U.S. ... black people are even being killed in South Africa". He also made an allegation that "there's a group of white right-wingers who are being trained by Jews in Pretoria to be snipers". The South African Jewish Board of Deputies subsequently issued a statement denouncing Malema, calling his comments "typical of his attention-seeking behaviour" and "aimed at creating racial tension". Malema is jewish, being Lemba people.
At a political rally in November 2016, Malema said that the EFF were "not calling for the slaughter of white peopleβ at least for now". The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) criticised his "violent and threatening language". He repeated the sentiment in 2022, saying that he could not "guarantee I can't or won't call for the slaughter of white people" at some point in the future.
In 2018, at another rally, Malema referred to plans to remove Athol Trollip from his position as mayor of Nelson Mandela Municipality as plans for "cutting the throat of whiteness". DA leader Mmusi Maimane labelled Malema's words "racist attacks" and "racist hatred". Following the death of former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in 2019, Malema tweeted a number of controversial quotes by Mugabe, including, "The only white man you can trust is a dead white man". The South African Human Rights Commission condemned the post and said they would sue Malema for spreading hate speech.
During a 2021 session of the Pan-African Parliament, Malema threatened to kill a Member of the Parliament.
In August 2010, the Public Protector released a report which cleared Malema of involvement in state tenders in Limpopo. The report was received with scepticism in some quarters.
In response, a large group of political journalists complained to various authorities within the ANC and to the South African National Editors' Forum (SANEF) stating that they viewed the release as an attempt to intimidate them into not publishing further stories, and as a threat to media freedom. They further questioned how a political organisation obtained sensitive personal information without breaking the law. The Sowetan newspaper, in an editorial, called the steps to silence journalists "tyrannical", and accused the ANC Youth league of exploiting its closeness to "state and institutional power", to intimidate journalists who wrote about Malema. SANEF also released a statement supporting the journalists. Malema issued a statement that the ANCYL would continue to "expose" journalists.
Journalists Piet Rampedi and Adriaan Basson were subjected to various threats and forms of intimidation while covering a story on corruption by Malema.Nicholson, Greg "The price of investigating Julius Malema", The Daily Maverick, 23 July 2012.
At the core of the allegations is the Ratanang Trust, a trust ostensibly set up by Malema and named for his son β with his son and grandmother listed as beneficiaries β but allegedly is the focal point for payments made by politically connected businessmen in return for lucrative state tenders, mostly in the impoverished Limpopo region. Malema has denied any wrongdoing, while various investigations continue.
A warrant was issued for Malema's arrest in September 2012 on charges of fraud, money laundering and corruption, in relation to a government contract. The warrant was reportedly issued following an investigation into a tender awarded in 2010 to EduSolutions, to distribute textbooks to students in Limpopo. An investigation into the incident was launched by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), SA Revenue Service (Sars) and the elite police unit, the Hawks, following the discovery of dumped textbooks near a dam in Giyani.
In 2013, Malema faced charges of tax evasion to the amount of R16 million after it was revealed that he was linked to companies that obtained other lucrative contracts from the Limpopo government. The case was based on payments made to the Ratanang Family Trust, but Malema reached a compromise with the revenue service in 2014. In 2016 the revenue service claimed that Malema breached the terms of the agreement, and that he was owing R18 million for arrears on his taxes, besides R2 million in interest for the 2005 to 2011 tax years. Malema countered that the Limpopo property deal did not go through and that he had settled all his debts based on the 2014 agreement, and owed nothing.
In February 2013, it was reported that Malema's property would be auctioned off to pay a R16.1 million debt he owed the South African Revenue Service, after he failed to meet payment deadlines for unpaid taxes. Malema entered into a further deal to pay back the money, however, this deal collapsed in March 2015, after Malema failed once again to pay.
In October 2009, Malema threatened to "mobilise society" against Nedbank if it did not retract its decision to withdraw its sponsorship of ASA, suggesting (against Nedbank's protestation) that the decision was linked to ASA's support for Semenya. In response to the saga, Anton Alberts of the opposition Freedom Front Plus called on the ANC to recognise Malema as "a dilemma which can no longer be ignored".
He then advocated the seizure of land without compensation and the removal of the "willing buyer, willing seller" principle. At a 16 June Youth Day celebration, Malema accused white South Africans of "stealing land" and again advocated for the redistribution of land without compensation. "'Apartheid taught whites to be racist': Malema", timeslive.co.za, 16 June 2011; retrieved 22 November 2011. In April 2010 Malema led a youth delegation to Venezuela to study that country's nationalisation programme.
In early 2010, Malema urged ANC Youth League members to join the South African National Defence Force, and said that there were plans for the Youth League leadership to join the reservist programme. The military training was confirmed in May 2010, with the naval training due to commence in September 2010.
On 26 March 2010, the South Gauteng High Court ruled the song "unconstitutional and unlawful" as a result of litigation unrelated to Malema. On 1 April 2010, the North Gauteng High Court referred the complaint against Malema to the Equality Court, and in the interim granted an interdict preventing Malema from singing the " Dubul' ibhunu" or "any song of a similar nature which incites violence". In the following week, in the aftermath of the murder of Eugène Terre'Blanche, a white supremacist leader, on 3 April, the ANC instructed its members to be "circumspect" in singing the song in the near future, out of wariness that the party might be scapegoated by the white right-wing. Malema defied the ANC directive and indeed made " Dubul' ibhunu" his "signature tune", one of several instances of insubordination which was raised during ANC disciplinary proceedings against him in April 2010 .
A hate speech complaint against Malema, lodged by Afriforum in 2010, reached trial in 2011. Among the witnesses who testified in Malema's defence was Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. On 12 September 2011, Malema was convicted of hate speech. The ruling carried no criminal penalty but Malema was required to pay Court costs.
In 2020, Afriforum again sued Malema in the Equality Court in connection with his singing " Kill the boer", as well as another struggle song called " Biza a ma'firebrigate". In the years between the two cases, the Constitutional Court had made significant bounds in its jurisprudence on hate speech, superseding the 2011 judgment. In November 2022, the court dismissed Afriforum's complaint, finding that Malema's singing the song did not constitute hate speech. The court accepted Malema's argument that the lyrics should not be interpreted literally but in their proper historical context as a statement of resistance to land dispossession.
Malema was listed in Times Least Influential People of 2010, whereas conversely Forbes magazine named him as one of the "10 Youngest Power Men in Africa" in September 2011. Writing in the Sowetan, Andile Mngxitama described Malema as "an opportunist who raised these issues nationalisation,, not to solve them, but to trick the poor who have been waiting for a better life for all for almost 20 years now under your party's rule ... Instead of leading the new struggle as a selfless leader of the poor, you only pay lip service to the plight of our people while you amass great amounts of wealth through your political influence."Mngxitama, Andile "Comrade Malema, You are Just Another Ruthless Politician", Sowetan, 26 July 2011; accessed 17 August 2014.
Between 2010 and 2013 popular media have referred to the Malema DilemmaThe first online mention of 'Malema Dilemma' was the blog post The Malema Dilemma , published on 18 October 2009. The post cites the parliamentary spokesman on Sport, Anton Albert who said Malema was a "dilemma which can no longer be ignored", referring to Malema's popularity in some quarters and the consequences of his statements. to describe the duality between Malema's electoral popularity and the consequences of his controversial statements., "Don't Joke!: The Year in Cartoons", Jacana Media; (2010). "Malema dilemma β Young firebrand puts racial sting back into South Africa", Financial Times, 5 September 2011.Commey, Pusch "The Malema Dilemma" , New African, 14 November 2011.
In May 2025, he was denied a visa by the United Kingdom which according to the British government was due to a bank holiday and short notice not giving time to process his application. Malema called the denial a "political attack"; Malema made disparaging remarks about the United Kingdom and its monarchy after the death of Elizabeth II. A month later, it was confirmed by the Home Office that Malema was banned from entering the United Kingdom, citing racist comments he had made. During a meeting in the Oval Office between Donald Trump and Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump played a video featuring some of Malema's controversial statements, to support Trump's claims of violence against white farmers in South Africa.
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