The EFF leader also accused the family, who are close friends of President Jacob Zuma, of running a corrupt cartel.
Malema’s declaration of war came only days after Zuma’s allies in the ANC questioned his close ties with the Gupta family.
“We are not going to allow the Guptas to masquerade as legitimate businesspeople when they are not. The Guptas must leave the country with immediate effect,” he said.
Malema said the EFF would do to the “Zuptas what we did to the colonisers. We’ll engage them direct”.
He said the EFF would no longer allow Gupta media entities – The New Age newspaper and the ANN7 television news channel – to attend its events.
“Our brothers and sisters working for the Guptas‚ this is not about you. Move out of the way. We’re going for the enemy,” he said.
“We can’t guarantee the safety of those working for the Guptas.”
This statement was condemned by the SA Editors’ Forum.
Spokesman Adriaan Basson said he was worried by Malema’s intimidation of journalists who worked for Gupta-owned media.
“It is unacceptable for any political party to intimidate journalists and to state publicly that they cannot guarantee their safety,” he said.
“The EFF is entitled to its views about media owners, but should allow journalists to conduct their work without fear and in a climate conducive to the free exchange of information.”
The New Age editor Moegsien Williams said on Twitter his newspaper would not report on the EFF if the party could not guarantee the safety of their reporters.
Williams invited Malema to reconsider his position.
Outlining the EFF’s response to Zuma’s offer to pay a portion of the costs of the upgrading of his Nkandla private home not related to security, Malema said there would be no deal with the president.
He said he was not prepared to welcome Zuma’s Nkandla settlement proposal unless he agreed to the EFF’s terms.
