The United Kingdom has on Wednesday formally denied Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema a visa, citing his expressions of support for Hamas and previous remarks seen as inciting racial violence.
In a letter
dated June 17, 2025, the UK Home Office stated that future visa applications
are also unlikely to succeed unless Malema alters his stance.
Malema, who has
previously travelled to the UK, was denied entry this time after a review of
his public conduct and political statements.
The UK Home
Office said his presence in the country is “not conducive to the public good,”
citing both character and association concerns.
Among the
issues flagged was Malema’s public support for Hamas, which is an organisation
banned in the UK under terrorism laws.
Further
comments by the EFF in April 2024 — expressing full support for “the armed
struggle of Hamas and Hezbollah” — and a televised interview where Malema
called the 7 October attacks “a legitimate act of resistance” were also cited.
Also raised was
Malema’s history of racially charged statements, including his now-infamous
2016 remark that the EFF was “not calling for the slaughter of white people —
at least for now.”
It also
mentioned that in 2022, during an Equality Court hearing, Malema told the
presiding judge he could not rule out such calls in future, stating: “I can’t
guarantee I won’t say it. I am not a prophet.”
The Home
Office’s letter referenced this as part of a pattern of “unacceptable
behaviour” under UK immigration policy — defined to include incitement,
justification, or glorification of terrorist violence and racial hatred.
“Your conduct,
character and associations make it undesirable to grant you entry to the UK,”
the letter concludes. “There is no right of appeal or administrative review in
relation to this decision.” IOL
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