Julius Malema's EFF stands firm after UK visa denial

A Senior member of the EFF has confirmed that party leader Julius Malema and others are not planning to withdraw their visa applications to visit the UK, after a party delegation was not provided with visas to attend a conference at Cambridge University this weekend.

Malema was invited by the African Society of Cambridge to speak at the 11th Annual Cambridge Africa Together Conference but could not leave OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg as their visas did not arrive in time.

Taking to social media platform X, Malema said he was at the airport when he received a letter, four hours before his departure, informing him he had been denied a visa. 

“The British authorities have denied me a visa to London for the Cambridge Conference this weekend, providing no substantial justification.

"It is clear to me that this is an attempt to silence a dissenting political perspective,” he said.

“This is unacceptable and spineless.”

Party spokesperson Sinawo Thambo described the incident as "nothing more than an expression of bureaucratic process being used to suppress political dissent and to ban the voices of the EFF from building global solidarity against Western imperialism".

A senior party leader said senior party leaders would not withdraw their visa applications, citing the possibility of future invites from African Society of Cambridge or other entities in the UK.

In an interview on Thursday, the source said while the party was still deliberating on the matter, it had no intention of withdrawing the applications for a visa to the UK.

"We might have other invites, and we will not be deterred by this denial," the source said.

Another senior source within the party said the US and its views on Malema may have played a role in the "polite denial" of his visa application. 

In a letter to EFF deputy president Godrich Gardee, the UK High Commissioner to South Africa, Antony Phillipson, said the Home Office had faced delays in processing his visa application in time for his trip.

Phillipson said that he wanted to "personally apologise" that the Home Office in the UK had been "unable to process the application in time owing to the necessary steps required to consider visa applications and the unfortunate timing of some recent UK Bank Holidays".

He said that he would take "personal interest in the issue" and had agreed to refund the application fee.

"I recognise that this will be deeply disappointing, especially as the delegation applied in advance and some paid for priority service," the letter read.

The EFF has framed the incident as part of a broader attempt to silence critical voices opposed to imperialism and capitalism. 

Political analyst Sandile Swana said external pressures may have influenced the UK's decision. 

"It's not easy to say that this is entirely innocent. The decline of the visa has been polite, but it's difficult to say it was not intentional," Swana said.

Cape Argus