Julius Sello Malema (born 3 March 1981) is the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, a South African political party, which he founded in July 2013. Malema was born and grew up in Seshego, Transvaal Province.
Malema graduated from Mohlakaneng High School, Seshego, Limpopo. In 2010, he completed a two-year diploma in youth development through University of South Africa (UNISA).
In 2011 he enrolled at UNISA for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and African languages, and he graduated in March 2016.
His mother was a domestic worker and a single parent. He joined the African National Congress's Masupatsela at the age of nine or ten. His main task at the time, was to remove National Party posters.
He previously served as President of the African National Congress Youth League from 2008 to 2012. Malema was a member of the ANC until his expulsion from the party in April 2012. He occupies a notably controversial position in South African public and political life, having risen to prominence with his support for African National Congress president, and later President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma.
He has been described by both Zuma and the Premier of Limpopo Province as the "future leader" of South Africa. Less favourable portraits paint him as a "reckless Populist" with the potential to destabilise South Africa and to spark racial conflict.
Malema was convicted of hate speech in March 2010 and again in September 2011. In November 2011 he was found guilty of sowing divisions within the ANC and, in conjunction with his two-year suspended sentence in May 2010, was suspended from the party for five years. In 2011, he was also convicted of hate speech after singing "Dubula iBunu" ("Shoot the Boer"). On 4 February 2012 the appeal committee of the African National Congress announced that it found no reason to "vary" a decision of the disciplinary committee taken in 2011,but did find evidence in aggravation of circumstances, leading them to impose the harsher sentence of expulsion from the ANC.
On 25 April 2012 Malema lost an appeal to have his expulsion from the ANC overturned; as this exhausted his final appeal, his expulsion took immediate effect. In September 2012 he was charged with fraud and money-laundering.
He appeared before the Polokwane Magistrates Court in November 2012 to face these charges, plus an additional charge of racketeering. The case was postponed until 23 April 2013, and then again to 20 June. The State scheduled the trial for 18 to 29 November 2013.
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