April 19, 2011. In an interview with HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur, screened on the BBC last night, ANC Youth League President Julius Malema denied he was one of the country’s elite and said his home and vehicles were owned by Absa.
“No. I’m nowhere close to the ownership of the wealth of this country,” he said.
The Youth League leader pointed out that the wealth of the land remained firmly in the hands of a white minority.
Malema said the day he left office (of the Youth League) he would return home to live in the township: “If I am out of this job, I will be back in the township living with my grandmother because I have not finished paying for that house.”
Malema told Sackur he had no ambition to be president of the republic and, once he was 35 years old (and ineligible to serve in the youth league), he would serve the party in whichever fashion it deemed best. “I will go home to Polokwane . . . and continue to serve the ANC.”
He said he could not understand why white farmers felt threatened by the singing of “Kill the Boer”, and said they were looking for attention.
Known for his fiery rhetoric, Malema remained calm during the interview and refused to rise to a number of testing questions posed by the hard-hitting Sackur, who travelled to South Africa for the one-on-one session.
Is this an indication that Malema is prepared to temper his confrontational style with a more subtle and measured approach, which many believe will be of huge benefit to the advancement of his young political career.
Now read, “What’s up with Julius?”.