Commander in chief Julius addressed the Gauteng EFF Provincial Ground Forces Forum on Sunday at the Standard Bank Arena in Johannesburg. Picture: Timothy Bernard, Independent Newspapers
ECONOMIC Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has called for the downfall of the South African national rugby team, the Springboks, saying it represented white supremacy at the top level.
“Amabokoboko, Die Bokke, Springboks is an apartheid symbol. Springbok must fall,” Malema said.
He said he did not support the Springboks because it had colours and an emblem that represented and reflected the country’s pain of the apartheid era.
“I don’t support Springboks. I don’t support the emblem and the apartheid colours that the national team wears. We want the colours that represent democracy,” he said.
Malema was addressing the Gauteng EFF Provincial Ground Forces Forum on Sunday at the Standard Bank Arena in Johannesburg.
Malema said he did not have a problem with rugby but “we don’t love amabokoboko”. He added that rugby was not a “white man’s sport” but rather a sport that has been around for decades.
“Our people in the Eastern Cape and everywhere else have played rugby long before these people played it,” he said.
During his address, he also called for the national team to get a new name, colours, and emblem that will represent the country’s democracy as well as the nation’s interests and not “white supremacy”.
He mentioned that Amabokoboko was an Afrikaner pride symbol and Afrikaner property, alleging that is why the “Afrikaners President” Johann Rupert received the team to his farm.
He criticised the Boks for allegedly visiting Rupert’s private farm on Saturday while the team was on a trophy tour in the Western Cape.
“I can’t support such,” stating that he would rather remain with Bafana Bafana
“I am not going to support anything that represents white supremacy, apartheid, and everything that undermined black people.
“You can be part of Amabokoboko, I will remain with Bafana Bafana until it is brought back into action by the government of the EFF,” he said.
He said Bafana’s failures were due to a lack of support and sponsorship yet “white” teams were sponsored and thriving.
The Springboks won the World Cup Rugby tournament a week ago in France beating New Zealand’s All Blacks in the final.
The Boks became the first team to win four world titles since the tournament’s inception.