Malema calls on Africa to challenge US hegemony

In an impassioned address reminiscent of the vision of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, EFF leader Julius Malema urged African countries to take on the US dollar and President Donald Trump, reports News24. Speaking at the annual general conference of the Nigerian Bar Association recently, Malema called for the establishment of a continental government, currency and military, which would directly challenge the hegemony of the US. ‘We demand one Africa; we demand a borderless Africa. We demand Africa with one President, with one currency, with one military command, with one Parliament, because we know Africa’s currency will be much stronger against the American currency.’ He said Trump would never choose a policy position for Africans. ‘We are not Trump’s subjects. We must refuse to be Trump’s subjects; we must stand together as the world changes and show the world that Africa is one and equal to all nations.’ Gaddafi had long pushed for a one African government to make the continent self-reliant. Malema also quashed the perception that SA’s unemployment crisis was caused by the presence of African foreign nationals. ‘Let me be unequivocal here: xenophobia is a betrayal of African unity. It is a sickness born of poverty, inequality, and government failure, but its victims are our African brothers and sisters. Nigerians, Zimbabweans, Congolese, and Somalis are not the cause of SA’s unemployment crisis. The cause lies in the untransformed economy of SA, which remains in the hands of a white minority and multinational corporations who continue to exploit labour while refusing to industrialise.’ Malema called for the integration of African economies to halt the desperate migration of Africans between nations in search of opportunities. He also stressed the importance of Nigeria and SA in leading the African Continental Free Trade Area.