EFF picket with Khosa family outside US embassy

EFF leader Julius Malema led a protest outside the US Embassy in Pretoria on Monday in support of the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

The EFF was joined by the family of the late Collins Khosa, a 40-year-old man from Alexandra, who died after being assaulted by South African National Defense Force (SANDF) members, on 10 April this year. The Mail and Guardian reported that the South African National Defence Force cleared the officers involved of all charges.  

Malema has, however, vowed that EFF will take the Khosa matter to court, and demand justice for Khosa’s family.

“We are suing the state through the family and we are more than convinced that the judges will be on our side. It was brutality, it was abuse of power and we do not associate with that. Bad elements among our army and police should be acted upon,” Malema said.

The EFF’s protest began with over 400 members kneeling for a period of 8 minutes and 46 seconds – the same length of time a police officer in the US reportedly knelt on the neck of George Floyd, shortly before he died.

Addressing the crowd outside the embassy, Malema said that it took the US government days to arrest the police officers involved in the killing of George Floyd.

“If black people did not rise in America and all over the world, those white police men were not going to be arrested because they do not arrest their own – especially if they have taken the life of a black person,” Malema said.

Malema slammed the government for their decision to open schools for grade 7’s and 12’s on Monday, saying many schools were never in a state of readiness.

“We have prisons in our country that are much cleaner than schools. A lot of schools do not have basins in their toilets, they use a common tap which is at a central point, far from the bathrooms. That is what our children are going to be subjected to.”

Purity Moraa (21), a member of the EFF Student Command (EFFSC) in Gauteng, told threestreamsmedia that she feels black people have been imprisoned for years.

“We are tired and this has to stop. White people need to use their privilege, join hands and stand in solidarity. This is the only way racism can be eradicated,” Moraa said.

Nicole Smith (22), a law graduate and candidate attorney, also joined the demonstrations outside the US embassy, and said that the US government is not doing enough to address the issue of police brutality against black people.

“The real problem is Trump. He made it clear that he doesn’t care about black people. The future is looking terrifying, and I really hope from the bottom of my heart that they remove president Donald Trump from office,” she said.

Malema has reiterated that as a party they will no longer be attending virtual meetings hosted by the ANC-government, saying that everything is being run by a “shadow state”. 

WATCH: The EFF held demonstrations outside the US embassy in Pretoria on Monday.