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.”