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South Africa’s outspoken opposition leader Julius Malema says the UK government has effectively barred him from attending a conference at the University of Cambridge by failing to process his visa in time.
Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), was due to speak at the university’s Africa Together Conference on 10 May, but said his visa application was deliberately delayed in what he called an “attempt to silence a dissenting political perspective.”
In a leaked letter addressed to EFF official Godrich Gardee, UK High Commissioner Antony Phillipson personally apologised, saying 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.”
He acknowledged the disappointment, especially since some members of the delegation had paid for priority processing, and said the application fees would be refunded.
Malema, a vocal critic of Western foreign policy and a proponent of radical economic reform in South Africa, claimed the UK had offered “no substantial justification” for the delay. In a post on X, he accused the High Commission of misleading his delegation with promises that “everything would be sorted” only to receive a “regret letter just hours before our departure.”
“This is unacceptable and spineless,” Malema wrote.
The UK Home Office declined to comment on the individual case, as per policy.
The EFF claimed the delay was a deliberate move to prevent Malema from delivering his message at the international stage, saying the High Commission had “actively delayed” the process.
The UK observed a public holiday on 5 May, which officials cited as contributing to the delay.
