Julius Malema: I don’t hate white people and I don’t engage in divisive race politics

EFF leader Julius Malema said that he loves black people, but that does not mean that he hates white people.

He shared this information during The Political Arena: Elections 2026 debate hosted by Arena Holdings at Wits University.

Malema was asked by the debate moderator, Hajra Omarjee, whether he hates white people, considering his controversial comments in the past.

He said that he does not. “When I say I love my wife, it doesn’t mean I hate other women. I just love my wife,” he said.

“So, when I say I love Black people, it doesn’t mean I hate white people; I am simply in love with Black people.”

“I am in love with the oppressed and seek to liberate them. When dealing with those who oppress others, I speak up for the oppressed and emphasise their liberation.”

In the same debate, he criticised political parties that try to attract votes based on ethnicity, colour, and race.

“It is not sustainable. Any mobilisation based on division is unsustainable because South Africa and its constitution are about a unitary state,” he said.

“The constitution is about uniting our people and becoming one. To go anywhere and mobilise people on the basis of ethnicity or colour is going to backfire.”

He added that it was the same thing with xenophobia. “It is wrong, no matter how you phrase it,” Malema said.

“It is wrong to encourage lawlessness and vigilantism by saying civilians must go around demanding whether people are South African.”

He cited the xenophobia in KwaZulu-Natal, where some people go around and ask people to express themselves in Zulu.

“Someone could be declared a foreigner simply because they lack a legal, proper mechanism to determine their status,” he said.

Malema argued that political parties should not mobilise people along lines of tribe, nationality, or race.

Julius Malema criticised for Kill the Boer and other statements about white people

Malema has faced criticism from many commentators for singling ‘Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer’ and other statements about white people.

Ernst van Zyl, head of Public Relations at AfriForum, argues that EFF leader Julius Malema’s “Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer” chant is a call to violence.

He argued that the “Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer” chant did not lose its original meaning and leads to farm attacks.

He also linked Malema to calls for violence, saying he stated that a “revolutionary is a walking killing machine”.

Van Zyl also pointed to Malema refusing to pledge under oath that he would never call for the slaughter of white people. “I can’t guarantee that I won’t do it,” Malema said.

He further cited Malema as telling supporters earlier this year that their songs are not just songs but explicitly “war cries” meant to educate people about the revolution.

Advocate Mark Oppenheimer shared similar views during a speech at the White Cross Project Conference in the United States.

Hi cited a legal case where he cross-examined Malema and asked him to clarify a statement that he was “not calling for the slaughtering of white people, at least for now.”

When Oppenheimer asked Malema if he would pledge never to call for the slaughter of white people, Malema refused to make that pledge.

Oppenheimer highlighted Malema’s testimony under oath, where he explicitly stated, “When I think of a farmer, I think of a white person.”

This, in turn, links to his ‘Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer’ chant, which many people argue is calling for violence against white farmers.