Julius Malema, President of South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), said, “Nigerian musicians, filmmakers, and writers influence South African culture.”
The EFF Leader made the statement while making his speech at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference 2025 in Enugu State on Sunday 24 August, 2025.
He also said, “South African universities and industries provide platforms for Nigerian talent.”
Malema’s address posted on X by Economic Freedom Fighters reads: “Nigerian musicians, filmmakers, and writers influence South African culture, just as South African universities and industries provide platforms for Nigerian talent. But this cooperation has been uneven and at times marred by suspicion and the painful existence of xenophobia.
“A South African entrepreneur should be able to set up in Lagos without suspicion but with support, as a partner in a shared future. We must harmonise trade policies, align visa regimes, and build continental infrastructure that connects our people.
*Both South Africa and Nigeria know the pain of colonialism. Both have faced internal divisions. Both have endured the pressures of global imperialism that seeks to divide, exploit, and control us.
“We must reject the illusion that our salvation will come from Washington, London, Brussels, or Beijing. Our salvation lies here, in Lagos and Johannesburg, in Abuja and Pretoria, in the hands of Africans who refuse to be divided.
“The world cannot remain neutral in the face of genocide and just as apartheid SA was declared a crime against humanity, so too must the international community recognise and act against Israel’s apartheid and genocide.
“The importance of fighting on the level of the law was made evident in this case when the South African government took Israel to the International Court of Justice to report their crimes when no other country would do so.
“This fight in international court was won when the court declared that indeed Israel was perpetuating a genocide, a win that was necessary to sway some support away from Israel and to embolden other countries to speak up.
“Africa is equal to ALL NATIONS; To China, to Russia, To America. We are NOT just a small Nation. WE ARE A BIG NATION.”
