South Africa will descend into anarchy unless there is progressive, peaceful land expropriation without compensation, Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema said on Thursday.

“Your land is your identity, if you don’t have land you are nothing,” he told the Cape Town Press Club.

Malema said land transfer was therefore crucial for the personal and economic liberation of black South Africans. He said there should be no compensation because white landowners did not acquire the land through honest means.

Speaking to a mainly affluent white audience at Cape Town’s Calvin Grove Club, he said he was therefore asking his listeners to hand over “some of your property”.

However Malema was quick to assure them that his party believed in racial equality. He said the EFF was not against white people, and added “we want to share the wealth with white people.”

“Your safety as people with money is guaranteed by the empowerment of those without money.” SAPA