Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema has dismissed anti-immigration marches held across South Africa as “clownish” and “stupid,” alleging they are sponsored by the government to distract from bigger issues.
Speaking to Sky News Africa on 21 May 2026, Malema rejected claims that xenophobia exists in South Africa. He described the march participants as “charlatans, extortionists, and corrupt individuals” attempting to extort foreign nationals, and questioned how people could publicly assault others in front of police without consequence.
Malema argued that the narrative blaming foreign nationals for crime is misleading, pointing out that the majority of prisoners in South African jails are South African men, not citizens of Zimbabwe, Ghana, Nigeria, or the DRC. He said foreign nationals are being used as an “easy target.”
He also stated that healing South Africa’s trauma will take a generation and called for reparations from those who colonized the country and sponsored apartheid.
