Johannesburg - EFF leader Julius Malema has returned to the Twittersphere, following the suspension of his account when the social media network found he had violated its rules.
At around 9am on Wednesday, Malema made his first tweet since his 11-hour suspension.
He tweeted a picture of a police officer arresting an elderly woman.
“I'm back, and please help me find our Gogo. Already dispatched the legal team to look for her at the police stations this morning,” Malema tweeted.
He also retweeted a tweet by EFF national communications manager Sixo Gcilishe calling on the media to stop “obsessing” about their party.
“The media needs to stop obsessing over the EFF and insist on getting a plan and direction from instigators of this mess, which is the leadership of the country and ANC.
“We are here because of them and their egos. The media must not just show what's happening but get us answers,” Gcilishe tweeted.
Malema has tweeted continuously about the riots and looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. He recently wrote to President Cyril Ramaphosa seeking clarity on the deployment of the SA National Defence Force.
He questioned the SANDF's deployment and threatened that EFF supporters would be out on the streets if SANDF was sent out to patrol the streets.
“No soldiers on our streets! Otherwise, we are joining. All fighters must be ready… they won't kill us all. We need a political solution to a political problem, not soldiers. #NoToSoldiers,” Malema tweeted on July 12, which he also pinned to the top of his Twitter account.
The DA also said it intended to lay criminal charges against Malema and former president Jacob Zuma’s daughter Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla and his sons Edward and Duduzane for inciting violence through their social media accounts.
The EFF’s Mbuyiseni Ndlozi shared a screengrab of the notification sent to Malema from Twitter alerting him to the suspension.
“We have determined that you have violated Twitter rules, so we’ve temporarily limited some of your account features,” read the notification.
As part of the temporary limitations, Malema’s account was suspended from sending direct messages to his followers. He is also prohibited from tweeting, retweeting, following accounts and liking posts.
The limited features on Malema's account were applicable for 11 hours.
Ardent Malema follower, Ndlozi accused the social media network of silencing voices.
“Dear @twitter, don’t silence voices that are calling for a political solution to politics problems as opposed to violence and massacres. Your suspension of this account gives advantage to bloodthirsty racist killers in South Africa with no regard for black lives,” Ndlozi said.
Political Bureau