South African opposition leader threatens white minority

JOHANNESBURG – A South African opposition leader has threatened the country's white minority in a speech reflecting frustration among many in the black majority over a perceived lack of economic benefits since the end of apartheid.

Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters party, said Monday that European colonizers slaughtered Africans "like animals" and occupied their land.

Then Malema said: "We are not calling for the slaughtering of white people — at least for now."

Malema was speaking outside a courthouse where he faces charges connected to his alleged calls to supporters to occupy land owned by whites, who retain economic clout in South Africa 22 years after the end of white minority rule.

Another opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, says Malema's remark violated South Africa's post-apartheid constitution.