Published 9th Sep, 2022

By Tola Owoyele

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a South African far-left pan-Africanist political party, has said it does not mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

In a statement released by the party on September 8, it described the queen’s death as a reminder of a tragic period, not only in South Africa’s history but in Africa as a whole.

“We do not mourn the death of Elizabeth, because to us, her death is a reminder of a tragic period in this country and Africa’s history,” the statement reads in part.

“Britain, under the leadership of the royal family, took over control of this territory that would become South Africa in 1795 from Batavian control, and took permanent control of the territory in 1806.

“From that moment onwards, native people of this land have never known peace, nor have they ever enjoyed the fruits of the riches of this land, riches which were and still are utilised for the enrichment of the British royal family and those who look like them.”

EFF Statement On The Death Of Queen Elizabeth pic.twitter.com/YlBhG2uXno
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) September 8, 2022

In the statement, the party also accused the royal family of authorising the actions of Cecil John Rhodes, a one-time British mining magnate and Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896 who allegedly plundered South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

“It was the British royal family that benefitted from the brutal mutilation of people of Kenya whose valiant resistance to British colonialism invited vile responses from Britain,” the statement further reads.

“In Kenya, Britain built concentration camps and suppressed with such inhumane brutality the Mau Mau rebellion, killing Dedan Kimathi on February 18, 1957, while Elizabeth was already queen.”

Among other things, the party accused the queen of never acknowledging the atrocities the royal family inflicted on the native people invaded by Britain across the world.

“She willingly benefitted from the wealth that was attained from the exploitation and murder of people across the world,” the statement reads.

“The British royal family stands on the shoulders of millions of slaves who were shipped away from the continent to serve the interests of racist white capital accumulation, at the centre of which lies the British royal family.”

The group, while concluding its statement, asked that the queen and her ancestors get justice in the afterlife.

“If there’s really life and justice after death, may Elizabeth and her ancestors get what they deserve,” EFF said.

Before announcing the Queen’s death on Thursday evening, Buckingham Palace had said that she was under medical supervision after she pulled out of a virtual privy council on Wednesday.

Prince Charles, her first son, immediately inherited the Queen’s throne after her passing.

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