Freedom of speech in South Africa, what the BBC won't report even though it affected their reporter

That is Julius Malema, leader of the ANC's Youth League, expelling a BBC reporter, Jonah Fisher, from a press conference for daring to comment on where Julius Malema lives - "You live in Sandtown"; he raised this point because Malema had just criticised the Movement for Democratic Change for having offices in affluent Sandton. To which Julius Malema replies:

"This is a building of the revolutionary party and you know nothing of the revolution... here you behave or else you jump(?).. can you get security to remove this thing(?)... don't come here with that white tendencies(?)... you are a small boy, you cannot do anything... go out, go out, bastard... you bloody agent... "

So far The Telegraph and The Guardian have covered this story but the BBC seem less keen even though it was one of their journalists that was expelled form the press conference. Somehow I think that if a black BBC journalist had been expelled from an Afrikaaner's press conference and was told "don't come here with that black tendencies" that it would be headline BBC news.

The Guardian have managed to decipher more of Julius Malema's rantings than I could, do take a read of their article. Here's a part that I missed: "You can go out. Rubbish is what you have covered in that trouser. That is rubbish. You are a small boy, you can't do anything.".

Julius Malema seems like he's learnt a lot from his trip to Zimbabwe, mainly how to use paranoia about 'agents' and conspiracies to justify any actions. If I were Jonah Fisher I would worry about what might happen to him, Julius Malema does not like criticism and won't enjoy the publicity this action has brought him.


His Wikipedia entry includes soem interesting facts: 'His school career was undistinguished and he failed two high school grades as well as several subjects in his final secondary school examination. His highest mark attained at school was reported as a "C" for second language English and his lowest marks were published as an "H" (sub 25%) in maths and a "G" (sub 20%) in woodwork, all in the standard grade.'

'In February 2010 Malema came under fire for alleged intervening in government tenders in the Limpopo province; see below. Malema is currently a director in a number of companies that was awarded these tenders. Malema denies these allegations, but is still listed as a director in all these companies. He is especially under fire for his lavish lifestyle, where he drives a number of expensive cars, and lives in a expensive house in Sandton. When questioned about his lavish lifestyle, he blames the allegations on racism in South Africa, and that white people do not want to see black people succeed in SA. When asked about his Mercedes Benz C63 AMG, he says "its nothing compared to what white kids drive on Sundays".

Malema has recently been criticised for not paying any personal taxes nor business taxes for his four registered companies for the two years since his election as the president of the ANCYL. He is apparently being investigated by a senior team within the South African Revenue Service.'