Hundreds of South African protestors marched on the French embassy in Pretoria on Wednesday, demanding that France leave the continent.

The Economic Freedom Fighters, dressed in their distinctive red T-shirts and caps and chanting “Fuck off, France,” held signs stating “West Africa is not a French colony” and “France must pay restitution for its colonial sins.”

“You killed a lot of people in Africa. Why are you so scared today?” the party’s firebrand opposition leader Julius Malema shouted into a microphone, saying he was speaking to “French white supremacists”.

Armed police guarded the embassy. French ambassador Aurelien Lechevallier emerged briefly to receive their demands.

“We are friends to African nations,” he said.

The protesters arrived in buses hired by the party, according to AFP correspondents.

Malema, a master of political theatre, split from the African National Congress nine years ago.

Millions of people have backed him, particularly workers and the unemployed. He regularly criticizes European and American imperialism and has backed Russia in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine.