Cape Town – The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has threatened to march to estates owned by South Africa’s billionaire businessman Johann Rupert in the Western Cape and Mpumalanga, in protest against the “arrival of white settlers” in the country in the 1600s.
The EFF made the announcement this week.
“In order to register our disdain of the arrival of white-settlers in SA in 1652, which is the day when the problems of Africans began, the EFF will engage in a direct confrontation with Johann Rupert, by marching to the stolen land he claims to own in the WC and Mpumalanga,” said the EFF.
In order to register our disdain of the arrival of white-settlers in SA in 1652, which is the day when the problems of Africans began, the EFF will engage in a direct confrontation with Johann Rupert, by marching to the stolen land he claims to own in the WC and Mpumalanga. pic.twitter.com/3YuNAUMHCf
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) February 10, 2022
According to IOL, Rupert owns the L’Ormains wine estate in Franschhoek in the Western Cape as well as the Leopard Creek Golf Estate on the banks of the Crocodile River and bordering the Kruger National Park near Malalane in the Nkomazi local municipality in Mpumalanga.
Party leader, Julius Malema, has in the past accused President Cyril Ramaphosa of letting Rupert run the country on his behalf, accusing the Stellenbosch magnate of dictating his preferred policy to the ANC, according to The South African.
In 2014, Malema blamed his troubles with the taxman on Rupert.
At the time, Malema also accused Rupert of controlling the South African Revenue Service (Sars) and ordering it to investigate him, a Fin24 report said, adding that former president Jacob Zuma’s son Edward Zuma also opened a criminal case against Rupert in 2016, accusing the billionaire of using his financial clout to capture the state before and after 1994.
But Rupert rubbished the politicians’ allegations against him.
“I have personally never done business with the state. Really, because I don’t trust the state. So, no matter whom I could have captured,” the report quoted Rupert as saying at the time.
“Why attack people instead of debating the issue? Our issues are unemployment and a terrible educational system. It is a disaster,” said Rupert.
The EFF’s move to march to Rupert’s properties comes after the party’s 24th war council meeting, which was recently held in Cape Town and resolved on a decisive “Programme of Action for 2022”.
Among other resolutions, the party planned to march in the Northern Cape’s Joe Morolong local municipality and demand employment from the private sector for the community, youth, and the poor.
It also announced public campaigns opposing the country’s continued reliance on International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank loans.
“Understanding the permanent underdevelopment of the continent, and the threat to South Africa’s sovereign development and economic policy, we will engage in public campaigns continued dependency by South African loans from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank,” said the EFF in a statement.
Read the full statement below:
EFF Statement On Resolutions Of The 24th War Council pic.twitter.com/5HPgw809qs
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) February 10, 2022
Furthermore, it promised to hold large-scale protests in the Western Cape, citing the province as a “hotbed of white racism”.
Protests against eSwatini’s King Mswati have also been planned, as has a march to the French Embassy.
“As part of demanding the exit of all colonial forces and influences in the continent, the EFF will in Africa Month demand that the French desist from micro-managing the affairs of African states. We will do this by marching to their embassy here in South Africa,” said the EFF.
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Picture: Twitter/@EFFSouthAfrica
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