{"id":31373,"date":"2023-07-27T07:40:04","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T07:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/eff-calls-for-decommissioning-of-us-military-base-in-botswana"},"modified":"2023-07-27T07:48:45","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T07:48:45","slug":"eff-calls-for-decommissioning-of-us-military-base-in-botswana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/eff-calls-for-decommissioning-of-us-military-base-in-botswana","title":{"rendered":"EFF calls for decommissioning of US \u201cmilitary base\u201d in Botswana"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>Julius Malema, head of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a radical and militant economic emancipation movement has expressed concern over the United States military footprint and forays in Botswana and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Malema, a well-known relentless firebrand willing to stand up for his beliefs even when they are not popular, indicated that the US military presence in Botswana was a big source of concern to South Africa.<\/b><\/p>\n

In an almost three hour wide-ranging dialogue with editors and senior journalists in Sandton, South Africa, Malema touched on several key topics including domestic issues in South Africa, Khama\u2019s arrest warrant and the alleged US military base in Botswana.<\/p>\n

At the debate which was facilitated by Professor Onkgopotse JJ Tabane, the current host of eNCA\u2019s Power to Truth and an adjunct professor at the University of South Africa, Malema stated that it is necessary to \u201cdismantle that base\u201d as it threatens the entire SADC region. Additionally, he said EFF\u2019s position is that the \u201carmy base must be removed,\u201d and the US facility is dangerous to South Africa because it has the ability to \u201cflatten South Africa\u201d in less than two minutes.<\/p>\n

Malema claimed that while \u201che was charged by the African National Congress (ANC) for saying Botswana has got an American base and poses a threat to South Africa,\u201d the African National Congress (ANC) secretary general, Fikile Mbalula, was not penalised for recently making a similar claim in June that Botswana was housing a U.S. military outpost.<\/p>\n

However, Mbalula\u2019s assertions were disputed by Joseph Kalimbwe, a pro-democracy activist and member of the United Party for National Development (UPND), which is led by Zambian president Hakainde Hichilema.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe accusations by ANC SG, Fikile Mbalula on Botswana are undiplomatic to our SADC region. He accuses Botswana of housing America. The ANC chased Malema like a dog for talking about Botswana yet Fikile is insulting Botswana on live Television. Must watch his mouth!!!\u201d said Kalimbwe in a tweet in June.<\/p>\n

Even though the SADC has stated that they do not want a permanent US military post on the African continent, it apparently seems there is no standard and uniform procedure that member states in the regional bloc must adhere to when a foreign power requests to build a military post.<\/p>\n

This publication asked SADC if there is a SADC policy that member states in the regional bloc must follow when a foreign power requests to construct a military facility in the regional bloc; and if SADC considers member states that host a foreign military post constitute a threat to the regional bloc. In a telephonic response to the inquiries, SADC requested this publication to engage with SADC member states.<\/p>\n

Over the years, the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) has stated on multiple occasions that the Thebephatshwa Air Base belongs solely to the Government of Botswana and has refuted any suggestion that the post is a precursor or in any way tied to the United States military\u2019s Africa Command (AFRICOM).<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. Julius Malema, head of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a radical and militant economic emancipation movement has expressed concern over the United States military footprint and forays in Botswana and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Malema, a well-known relentless firebrand willing to stand up for his beliefs even when they are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":31372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-31373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nEFF calls for decommissioning of US \u201cmilitary base\u201d in Botswana - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Julius Malema, head of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a radical and militant economic emancipation movement has ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/eff-calls-for-decommissioning-of-us-military-base-in-botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EFF calls for decommissioning of US \u201cmilitary base\u201d in Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Julius Malema, head of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a radical and militant economic emancipation movement has ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/eff-calls-for-decommissioning-of-us-military-base-in-botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-27T07:40:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-27T07:48:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/07\/sm_1690427780.663172.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/eff-calls-for-decommissioning-of-us-military-base-in-botswana#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/eff-calls-for-decommissioning-of-us-military-base-in-botswana\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"EFF calls for decommissioning of US \u201cmilitary base\u201d in Botswana\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-27T07:40:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-27T07:48:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/eff-calls-for-decommissioning-of-us-military-base-in-botswana\"},\"wordCount\":524,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/eff-calls-for-decommissioning-of-us-military-base-in-botswana#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/07\/sm_1690427780.663172.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Botswana\",\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/eff-calls-for-decommissioning-of-us-military-base-in-botswana#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/eff-calls-for-decommissioning-of-us-military-base-in-botswana\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/eff-calls-for-decommissioning-of-us-military-base-in-botswana\",\"name\":\"EFF calls for decommissioning of US \u201cmilitary base\u201d in Botswana - 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