Open letter to Julius Malema from Noko Maleka

An Open Letter to Commander-in-Chief Julius Malema: A Plea for Pan-African Focus and Responsible Leadership

By Noko Maleka – Pan-African Writer, Broadcaster, and Citizen of the African Renaissance

Dear Commander-in-Chief Julius Malema,

As a fellow Pan-African, I write to you not only as a citizen of South Africa but as a son of this continent—deeply moved by the ideals you carry and the revolutionary consciousness you ignite. I write in admiration, but also in hopeful counsel.

Your vision of land expropriation without compensation, your unwavering commitment to economic emancipation for the African child, and your unapologetic call for a united, borderless Africa—all resonate profoundly with my own beliefs. In a continent so long balkanized by colonial constructs, your message rings like the voices of Kwame Nkrumah, Thomas Sankara, Mangaliso Sobukwe, and Muammar Gaddafi—men who dreamed, as you do, of an Africa that governs itself, feeds itself, and defines its own destiny.

Indeed, there are days when I believe the EFF is larger than South Africa; that your political thought belongs on the floor of the African Union, shaping continental policies, redrawing priorities, and helping us collectively imagine a post-imperial, self-reliant Africa. You carry, in your words and posture, the urgency of liberation yet to be fully realized.

But, Sir, even as I stand beside you in spirit, I feel compelled to offer a reflection on the rights we have as a nation, and how sometimes, those very rights may serve as distractions from the urgent battles we must fight.

South Africa’s Constitution is hailed as one of the most progressive in the world. We pride ourselves on our freedoms—freedom of expression, of protest, of sexual and cultural identity, and of movement. These are, in theory, marks of a liberated people. But in practice, I sometimes wonder whether these rights are not, in fact, golden cages—designed to occupy our energies while the real levers of power remain untouched.

We have the right to protest, yet our cries fall on deaf ears. We have the right to education, but not the access to quality. We have the right to dignity, but the streets of our townships are still soaked in poverty, and our youth still roam without jobs or purpose. What good are these rights if they fail to produce tangible, transformational outcomes for the black child?

It is as though we are like a child raised in a home without structure—allowed to eat whatever they want, attend school when they wish, and set their own rules without wisdom or consequence. The illusion of choice, while seductive, can be crippling. And so I ask, are we free or simply pacified?

Sir, this is why I plead with you as a great leader, to also consider the impact of rhetoric. The struggle songs of the past—"Kill the Boer, kill the farmer"—once served a purpose, a war cry in a time of brutal oppression. But today, they risk becoming dangerous relics, misunderstood by generations that did not live the pain of their origins. You have the platform, the influence, and the brilliance to unite, not divide.

As the leader of South Africa’s third-largest political party, and a future president in the eyes of many, your voice carries the weight of an entire generation’s dreams. And while satire and political symbolism have their place, let us be cautious: what may be a chant for some, may become a command in the minds of the desperate.

Let us not be architects of further division, but rather the constructors of a future where land is returned, dignity restored, and no South African—black or white—has to fear their fellow citizen. Let us not confuse resistance with resentment, nor freedom with unaccountability.

The Africa you dream of is possible. The battles you fight are just. But in this moment, I ask you to lead with both passion and restraint, wisdom and fire. For history will remember not only what you stood against, but what you stood for—and how you chose to build, even while the world expected you to destroy.

In admiration and solidarity,
Noko Maleka
Pan-African Writer, Broadcaster, and Citizen of the African Renaissance