By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Firebrand opposition politician and leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Julius Malema, has criticised British authorities after he was allegedly denied a visa to attend a conference in the UK on 10 May.
Malema, a vocal critic of what he calls “Western imperialism”, said the UK had no “substantial justification” for its decision, describing it as an “attempt to silence a dissenting political perspective”.
His party, the EFF, in a post on X, said the British High Commission had “actively delayed the processing and approval” of their leader’s visa to prevent him from speaking at the University of Cambridge on 10 May.
Malema had received an invitation from the university’s African Society to address its Africa Together Conference, the EFF stated.
Meanwhile, the UK High Commissioner to South Africa, Antony Phillipson, in a leaked letter to Malema’s deputy in the EFF, said the Home Office had been unable to process his visa application in time for his trip.
Phillipson, in his letter verified by the BBC as genuine, said he wanted to “personally apologise” that the UK Home Office 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”.
The UK observed a public holiday on 5 May.
Phillipson added that he had taken a “personal interest in the issue” over the last week.
“I recognise that this will be deeply disappointing, especially as the delegation applied in advance and some paid for priority service,” Phillipson said in the letter to the EFF’s Godrich Gardee.
The Home Office had agreed to refund the application fee, Phillipson stated.
Malema, a strong advocate for the nationalisation of white-owned land in South Africa, said on X that the EFF delegation had been promised that “everything would be sorted”, but received a “regret letter just hours before our departure”.
“This is unacceptable and spineless,” he added.
This comes months after Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, was denied a Canadian visa for an official assignment.
Gen. Musa, in February, said he and his colleagues were blocked from attending the event in Canada meant to honour war veterans.
“We were invited along with our team, but while half of us got visas, the other half was denied. It’s very disappointing,” he noted.
He termed the incident a “wake-up call” for Nigeria to strengthen its sovereignty and “refuse to be taken for granted”.
Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser, had expressed disappointment at the move, calling it “disrespectful” and saying Canada “can go to hell”.
