South African far-left opposition figure Julius Malema has been denied an entry visa for the second time by the UK government. Expressions of support for terrorist group Hamas and previous remarks seen as inciting anti-white racial violence figured in the decision for the ban.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader was further advised Wednesday by the Home Office any future visa applications are also unlikely to succeed unless Malema alters his stance.
As Breitbart News reported, Malema led his EFF party last month in chants of “Kill the Boer,” “Shoot to kill,” and “Kill the farmer,” while President Cyril Ramaphosa stayed quiet.
Malema posted footage of his own chant on X, including the incendiary words of the chant in his post.
That outburst came after he denied entry to the UK a few weeks earlier, as noted by Breitbart News.
The EFF leader was set to speak before the 11th Annual Cambridge Africa Together Conference at an event dubbed “The Making of Africa’s Future President’s”.
According to the BBC, a letter from the UK Home Office to Malema claimed that his visa was not processed in time due to “unfortunate timing of some recent UK Bank Holidays”.
UK High Commissioner to South Africa, Antony Phillipson reportedly said that he wanted to “personally apologise” to Malema over the incident.
Now his past comments are the reason for the UK to deny entry.
In a letter published by local media outlet News 24, the UK government cited his vocal support for Hamas, including a speech he made after the 7 October attacks in which he said his own party would arm the group if it came into power.
The UK also raised his threat to call for the “slaughter of white people” and to “take up arms” as a reason for the rejection.
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