EFF leader Julius Malema on Monday called for land to be returned and for more employment opportunities to be created to offer people dignity.
Malema was speaking in KwaMashu and later addressed students at the Durban University of Technology’s (DUT’s) Steve Biko campus.
The EFF leader and his party are on an activation drive ahead of Saturday’s manifesto launch at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium.
“Jobs are at the centre of the EFF. We want every young person in KwaMashu to work and work permanently and have the benefits. Whether you are a cleaner, whether you are a teacher ... if a teacher qualifies for medical aid (so) must a cleaner because at the end of the day you are all workers and they must have their benefits.”
Malema said free education was a priority for the party.
“We will never solve poverty, we will never solve indignity if our people are not educated.
“The ANC loves people who are not educated because (they) do not ask questions, but when you are educated you ask educated questions and you hold your leaders accountable and that is why they do not want you to be educated.”
Malema said the party wants free education at all levels – primary, secondary and tertiary.
“When you go to university you must not pay for anything, the only thing that must get you a seat at university must be your marks.”
He said the party was already assisting students to register at universities.
At DUT, Malema reportedly warned the party’s student command and youth members not to become involved in violence in the name of votes.
He said as the country heads to the general elections, EFF members should not engage in bloodshed because of politics.
“Do not get involved in violence in the name of votes. We must hate seeing the blood of black people, because if we do not want to see our own blood, let’s not see the blood of others.
“We want peace and we want tolerance and we want successful elections where the EFF will emerge victorious here in KwaZulu-Natal as the government of the day. Whatever happens the ANC will not win KwaZulu-Natal,” Malema said.
In December, Malema said: “This is the most important election as, for the first time, the ANC will face a serious contestation. It is a turning point for the politics of South Africa and to make up for the lost opportunities of 1994.
“Many people say the revolution took place in 1994, but this is not true. Since 1994 the oppressor has not lost anything but gained more and the oppressed have become more oppressed,” Malema said.
The Mercury