The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is the first movement in South Africa to show support to the United States’ (US) Black Lives Matter movement.
EFF shows solidarity to George Floyd and BLM
The world has echoed the cries of the African American community that, for many decades, has been pillaged by the brute force of a racist police system.
The murder of George Floyd was the last straw and since then, the US has been dealing with two major crises: coronavirus (Covid-19) and a racial pandemic.
Led by its commander-in-chief Julius Malema, the EFF took to the streets of Pretoria, Sandton and Cape Town to show solidarity to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Hundreds of protesters, clad in EFF regalia and flashing “in solidarity with George Floyd” placards, marched to the US embassy in Pretoria, as well as the offices of the US Consulate General in Sandton, Johannesburg, and Cape Town.
The peaceful protest led to the doorstep of these three locations where the EFF supporters kneeled for eight minutes and 40 seconds, the exact time period ex-Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin forced his knee on the neck of Floyd.
‘We must liberate the continent economically’ – Julius Malema
Malema implored Africans to see the events that unfolded in the US and relate them to the plight faced by black people in our continent.
“We must treat black lives with respect and dignity in Africa first. We are one family, these borders were [the] imagination of the white colonialists to separate because they fear the power of a United Africa.
“We must liberate the continent economically. We must own our land, banks, mines and we must have own cars produced here. For the white to respect us we must own our land,” he exclaimed.
Here are some social media reactions to the protests: