An Open Letter to Julius Malema by Natasha Mazzone MP - DA Shadow Minister of State Security and National Security Advisor to the Leader of the Official Opposition

22 October 2022

Dear Julius

I’m writing to you because I never get to see you in Parliament. I hope you are well and a little less angry than you were when you gave your speech at your Western Cape Conference a week ago.

I must say, I wouldn’t normally listen to issues you raise at your conferences, but this particular speech was brought to my attention.

I was not expecting the fire and brimstone speech as the last time I saw you, you were looking so happy and relaxed in Ibiza (although a little passé for people our age).

I do realise you were invited so you couldn’t exactly dictate the direction of the yacht yourself. You looked so happy, bottles of Cristal, all white super cool outfits, Gucci slides. It really was the champagne and caviar dream. I was delighted to see you enjoying Europe and the offerings it provides, and I was hoping it would change your incredibly angry mood and that the “jol” you had was going to change your outlook on life.

However, you came back to South Africa and almost immediately started telling members of your party that you were going to seize power at any cost. You spoke about killings that would be inevitable, land that would be seized and how nothing and nobody would stop you. Perhaps it was the reality shock of realising that the people you claim to represent will never be able to even dream of the excesses you so frequently enjoy.

Now you see, that kind of talk really gets me angry. You may or may not have noticed that I have been made the Shadow Minister of State Security and the National Security Advisor to the Leader of the Official Opposition, so this is what I’m going to do:

I think it is time for me and you to have a chat. I think we need to sit down, in a public arena, and talk these issues out in full.

I need to know how and why you think you will seize power (by-election results are showing you are losing a lot of support), I want to know whose throat you want to slit and most importantly, I want to know why you talk about war and murder in what is already a volatile political landscape.

Why all the hate? Why all the violence? I and millions of other South Africans have had enough. I personally believe you do nothing positive in the political arena and I think it’s time you are told, to your face, you are no Idi Amin, you are no Muammar Gaddafi, you are no Fidel Castro or Che Guevara and certainly no Benito Mussolini. The fact that these dictators and fascists are your idols is deeply disturbing and says everything we need to know about you.

I have given up on the Human Rights Commission as nothing ever happens there. I’m not going to lay charges against you, because it takes more time than I can stomach for investigations to take place, so I’m going to send the video of your speech to the South African Security Agency, which as you know, now falls within the office of the President. I’m going to do this because one of their mandates is the following, and I quote:

“To provide the government with intelligence on domestic and foreign threats or potential threats to national stability, the constitutional order, and the safety and wellbeing of our people.”

Some of the areas the SSA focuses on are:

Terrorism

Sabotage

Subversion

Espionage

Organised crime

As you can see, a lot of what you told your supporters you intend to do falls within these categories. I throw in “organised crime” because I’m still waiting to hear what is happening with your bridge tender and the whole VBS saga.

I realise you are much more accustomed to me taking on those other two little guys in your party, the one who brings you ice and the other one who wears what I think are cycling gloves to Parliament and wants to Kung Fu fight me all the time.

I have fought all forms of oppression, and I make you this solemn promise, I will fight any kind of oppression, violence and terrorism you try to incite.

So, I realise this letter has been a bit long to read, but let me sum it up for you:

I’m reporting you to the South African Security Agency for subversion, terrorism, sabotage and organized crime and;

I’m challenging you to a public chat, debate if you will, so we can clear up what you mean by all your threats and utterances.

I look forward to your answer and I really look forward to our chat.

We are two years apart in age, I was born in 1979, you in 1981, so I’m sure we will have a lot to talk about and ventilate fully.

I do however want you to know, I think your utterances are appalling and think that if an average South African said what you did, they would be in jail, so I’m not playing around here. I intend to do everything in my power to expose you for the fraud that I think you are, and let South Africans see for themselves that the ONLY card you have to play is your hatred of white people and in fact, hatred for anyone who doesn’t think exactly like you do. I also want you to know, absolutely nothing scares me, so as I’ve said before, bring it on!

Yours faithfully

Natasha Mazzone

Shadow Minister of State Security
National Security Advisor to the Leader of the Opposition

Issued by the DA, 22 October 2022