South Africa’s Minister of Police General Bheki Cele said Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema “crossed the line” after he threatened police over the weekend.

In a statement on Monday, Cele said the South African Police Service would not take such threats lightly.

“I think the EFF leader has crossed the line, you are not going to threaten the police and think they will just fold their arms. The job of the police is clear and is prescribed in the Constitution, which is to protect, prevent, combat and investigate crime,” he said.

“Police are also there to uphold and enforce the law, so no one has the right to threaten the police when they conduct their work.”

Malema complained that police had colluded with “white-racists” in Senekal in the Free State province and Brackenfell in Cape Town to abuse EFF members protesting against racism.

On Sunday, he said his party would retaliate by visiting the homes of police officers.

“If SA police want a fight they must declare it. We will treat them the same way we treated them in the ’80s.”

“We will not only fight them at the picket lines. We will go to their homes and fight them in their own houses with their own families,” Malema added.

Cele said officers were more than capable of defending themselves from the EFF.

“The threat to the lives of police members and their families will not be tolerated, officers of the law should never be used as bait for political mileage,” he said.

The outspoken Malema also came under fire from the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU), whose spokesperson Richard Mamabolo called the EFF leader’s remarks dangerous and irresponsible.

Mamabolo made reference to another incident in September when Malema verbally attacked police officers, to the extent of calling their boots “stinky”.

This time around, Malema had taken the insults to “another level” by advocating violence against police men and women, Mamabolo added.