On May 25, Julius Malema, the firepower leader of the South African Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF), closed his campaign rally on the campaign, as he often did, at the Mminara Sports Ground in Kwakwatsi, Free State: by singing his favorite anti-racist struggle national anthem, “dubul’ibhunu.” The song was sung in Xhosa and translated into “kill Boole” or “kill farmers” and has been controversial in South Africa and abroad. Controversy has erupted again in recent weeks.

Just four days ago, on May 21, U.S. President Donald Trump played a video of Malema and his supporters chanting the song during a tense meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. He claimed it was proof of a “white genocide” in South Africa and asked Ramaphosa to explain “that person’s behavior.”

However, Malema has been singing the song publicly since 2010. There is no white genocide in South Africa. In fact, in August 2022, the country's Equality Court ruled that the song did not constitute hate speech. By doing it again in Kwakwatsi, Malema clearly seized an opportunity to take advantage of Trump’s misleading allegations and the global media attention they have attracted.

Trump and his ally Ally Elon Musk's disproportionate focus on Malema hides a deeper, more urgent reality: Millions of black South Africans, like many on the continent, yell at meaningful socio-economic changes and long-term overdue justice, for the legacy of colonialism and colonialism.

They called for a modern revolution.

Nothing can tell this better than EFF's platform. Its policies are centers on economic transformation, including land acquisition without compensation and nationalization of mines. The party upholds black nationalism and pan-Africanism, supports Russia's confrontation with NATO, and positions itself in opposition to Western rule.

Although the EFF's agenda is bold and Africa-centric, it is nothing new. For decades when EFF was founded on July 26, 2013, the Pan-African Congress (PAC) in Azania (PAC) was a radical anti-apartheid movement that advocated many of the same ideals.

The PAC was formed on April 6, 1959 by a group separated from the African National Assembly (ANC), and was led by intellectual, pan-African and activist Robert Sobukwe. At the party’s press conference, Sobukwe famously said: “Africanists believe that only one game that we all belong to is human.”

The PAC advocates returning the land to Indigenous Africans and asserts that white settlers have unjustly seized the land. This view – land deprivation is at the heart of South Africa’s historical injustice – has only recently begun to be resolved through Volume 13 of the Expropriation Act of 2024, with the ANC signing the law on February 23.

South Africa's history has a long vision of renewing Africa. Sobukwe's philosophy lays the foundation for the purpose of being often wrongly manifested today as "radical economic transformation." Steve Biko instilled pride and self-determination in the Black Awareness movement of the 1970s. In the late 1990s, President Thabo Mbeki advocated the African Renaissance - a cultural, scientific and economic revival designed to decolonize African ideas and institutions.

Malema is not a pioneer in theory, but he is a powerful political ship for long-standing ideas from Sobukwe, Biko and Mbeki.

Like the rest of the mainland, South Africans are revisiting the land issue. It marks a wider revival of postcolonial ideology.

In 1969, Muammar Gaddafi provided a powerful example. He nationalized Libya's Occupy Oil Company to boost the poor. For more than a decade, Gaddafi has provided free education, health care and subsidized housing, providing the highest income per capita in Libya and Africa.

In 2000, Zimbabwe launched a land reform program to reclaim the land taken during colonial rule. In recent examples, Burkina Faso nationalized Boungou and Wahgnion Gold Mines in August 2024 and plans to take over more. Mali acquired the Yatela mine in October. In December 2024, Niger seized control of the Somair uranium mine, which was previously run by French nuclear giant Orano.

Throughout the West and Southern Africa, it is clear that the legacy of colonialism still needs remedy. South Africa remains the most unequal country in the world. Its Gini coefficient measures income inequality and is always the highest. In the decades after the fall of apartheid, the continued existence of racial inequality throughout the body, and differences in education, employment and economic access are maintained.

Trump's astonishing decision on February 7 to sanctions on South Africa (partially under the Extension Act) reveals historic amnesia and indifference in the West. Many Black South Africans are desperate to move beyond the past, but are constantly refusing to correct deep-rooted inequality.

Ironically, Trump’s intervention may help inspire the African government. His public gesture may appeal to his domestic base, but his deafness and dumbness only deepens anti-American sentiment among South Africans.

The anti-Western feeling has risen across the continent, driven by historical dissatisfaction, new colonial policies, and the emergence of new global powers such as Russia and China. This disillusionment is visible in a growing appetite for alternative partnerships rejecting Western-supported institutions and a growing appetite for alternative partnerships.

Instead of trying to humiliate Ramaphosa on the world stage, Trump is better in favor of fair and legal reforms. Obsessed with Marama is futile - he is just a generation who captures the voice of economic pain and historical betrayal.

"Dubur'ibhunu" resonates with a part of the black population in South Africa, not because they are bloodthirsty, but because the promise of liberation is still not fulfilled.

Trump will understand this well: the African revolution is not over yet.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own views and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.