Give to our children, not jailbirds – Juju
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has promised to give more government benefits to law-abiding citizens.
Speaking in Brits in the North West yesterday, he promised that if the EFF got into government after the 29 May elections, the benefits currently being given to prisoners would be given to law-abiding citizens. These included water, electricity and food.
“Our children will not resort to Savanna [cider] when they’re bored. They will read books because we plan to send them to school free of charge,” he said.
“We’ll give them food, school shoes and uniforms for free. Our children can’t learn with an empty stomach.
“They have asked me where the money for free school uniforms will come from. I’ve told them I will take it from the same place the money for prisoners’ uniforms comes from. You give prisoners uniforms every year, but not our children...
“A prisoner in jail has breakfast, lunch and supper. A citizen outside doesn’t even know where the next meal will come from.
“Why do people who broke the law have better things than those who are law-abiding?”
He reiterated the party’s stance on crime being a socioeconomic issue.
“We must fight poverty in order to defeat crime,” said Malema.
He said EFF councillors had already fought for over 1 000 jobs in the mines. “The mines know if you say no to the EFF, you run the risk of not running that mine the following day. That’s why we want the EFF everywhere,” he said.
“It’s important that our people see something. Even when we’re not in government, when they see us making an effort, they know we can be relied on.”
It’s the silly season in the lead-up to the general election in less than three weeks, so every time a politician says something that makes sense this month – yes, you heard us, they sometimes do – we should take it with a pinch of salt. “We will create jobs; we will end load shedding – oh, wait that’s happened for 40-odd days for now, hooray – we will reduce crime and we will ensure pothole-free roads” to paraphrase some of what the political parties are promising. Ah, kumbaya – what a wonderful world we live in. Everything is going to be okay, they say.
Voters – at least those that hopefully show up in force on Wednesday, 29 May – are not stupid and realise anything and everything will be promised just to get your X on voting day.
But you’ve got to give it to some of the promises, because occasionally they make sense.
Step up Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema saying what we all feel: the benefits currently being given to prisoners must be given to law-abiding citizens.
Addressing the Brits community in North West yesterday, he said: “Our children can’t learn with an empty stomach. They have asked me where the money for free school uniforms will come from. I’ve told them I will take it from the same place where the money for prisoners’ uniforms comes from. You give prisoners uniforms every year, but not our children.”
He added: “Under the EFF government, a prisoner will get a uniform when they’re arrested and no new uniform will be provided for them until they’re released. Even if its torn at the back, it’s none of our business. A prisoner in jail has breakfast, lunch and supper. A citizen outside doesn’t even know where the next meal will come from.”
Free school uniforms might be a stretch. But giving a criminal a better life than a law-abiding one does not make sense – especially when it comes to children.