EFF leader Julius Malema says a municipality under his party will not hire anyone found guilty of rape and gender-based violence.
As cases of gender-based violence continue to rise in the country, Malema called on universities to do more in ensuring that GBV perpetrators are brought to book.
While engaging with students on several matters, Malema focused significantly on GBV.
Tertiary education institutions do not take rape or GBV on campus seriously when these cases are reported, he said, and called for more stringent measures to resolve reported incidents.
“Each campus is supposed to be a safe haven for all children, not a potential place for rapists.
Video: Tarryn-Leigh Solomons/IOL Politics
“Rape is treason and it must be treated as such. Rapists must be denied bail,” he said.
On the issue of unemployed graduates, Malema said the government and the private sector must create job opportunities as students must graduate into jobs and not into the streets.
“When you don’t create jobs for graduates, you are destroying the hopes of those coming after them.
“When they [learners] see a graduate loitering in the streets, they don’t get motivated,” Malema said.
He stressed that if a caring government does not create opportunities for young people, the government must ensure those unemployed graduates receive an allowance.
“They [government] must pay you for having gone to school as they are not absorbing you into the workforce,” Malema said.
This will ensure that generations to come are encouraged to pursue their studies, he said.
All workers employed at universities, Malema said, should be treated with dignity. This, he said, can be done by ensuring that workers receive pension and well-paid salaries.
He also called on universities to uplift the expulsion and suspension of students who were involved in the Fees Must Fall protests which rocked campuses across the country. Malema said these students were fighting for a good cause.
Malema also suggested that the same way the government encourages the public to get vaccinated, they should encourage all citizens to have DNA samples taken to curb violence against women.
POLITICAL BUREAU