Johannesburg - EFF leader Julius Malema has announced that a school the party is building will be named after Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
Speaking during the EFF’s Freedom Day Rally on Monday, Malema said the school will be named Winnie Mandela Combined School.
He said the party had already bought the land and had consulted with her family about naming the school after her.
He did not give specific details about where the school would be built, but previous reports suggest the school will be based in Alexandra, Johannesburg.
Malema reiterated that the school would serve to accommodate academically brilliant pupils from poor backgrounds, those children who had lost their parents to the HIV/Aids scourge and the poorest of the poor.
He said the school would have the "best sporting facilities" and said they would hire highly qualified teachers to the school. He also said the school would have an independent board of trustees.
“We hope that this will inspire those black people with wealth to emulate us instead of wasting money on private jets and holidays on exotic islands… The education of a black child is important,” said Malema.
Malema first announced plans for the party to build a school when he was re-elected as the leader of the EFF at its elective conference in December last year. At the conference, he said the EFF would build the school within five years.
At the time, he criticised wealthy black people such as Patrice Motsepe and Robert Gumede for not building schools for the poor.
"We must build a private school that is owned by the EFF. We are going to build a school in these next five years, and children will go into that school and will study free of charge.
"I do not understand why Patrice Motsepe does not own a private school, I do not understand why Robert Gumede does not own a private school, with all the money they have.
"If we can raise R32m for our conference in less than eight months, it means we are capable of raising more. We will hire highly qualified black teachers and will have full facilities in the standard of other private schools," he said at the time, according to TimesLive.
Meanwhile, while speaking on Monday during his address, Malema said the ANC government had reversed the gains of 1994 by destroying state owned enterprises.
He was also scathing on the move to seek a loan from the IMF and the World Bank.
He said the government should consider tapping into unclaimed benefits from insurance companies, government reserves, reprioritising funds from other government departments and tapping into foreign exchange reserves held by the South African Reserve Bank.
“We are in a crisis, we should exhaust all avenues before we rush to the IMF and the World Bank. It is not true that the IMF and World Bank will not interfere,” he said.
He said the Sarb should make money available in the fight against the Covid-19 and called on transparency around the Solidarity Fund. He said private persons who served on the fund should do so voluntarily, and if not, the government should deploy people to work on the fund.
On the Cuban health workers, the EFF welcomed the assistance from the country and called on South Africans to continue staying at home and washing their hands.