EFF want free education, from Grade 1 to 12

EFF leader Julius Malema has called for free education from Grade 1 to 12 and at tertiary level while also advocating for feeding schemes at tertiary institutions.

He made the comments on Tuesday while on the campaign trail in the township of Madadeni in Newcastle, drawing a large crowd of red-clad EFF supporters and community members. Malema also received a rousing reception in Inanda in Durban with multitudes of supporters coming out to listen to his address.

Speaking to the crowds, Malema said: “We want free education, from Grade 1 to Grade 12. We want proper feeding schemes, we want free education also at tertiary level, we don’t want registration fees, we don’t want our children to pay not even a cent.

“We also want to introduce a feeding scheme at tertiary level and the feeding scheme is not going to replace the allowances that you are getting from NSFAS, you must take that money and get food at a tertiary level so that our children pay attention to learning and nothing else.”

He told the scores of people that had gathered at Dedangifunde High School, in Madadeni, that if they did not give students food at tertiary level they would be turning them into prostitutes who then go to look for sugar daddies in order to survive at school.

He also called for the old-age pension to be doubled because the elderly, especially grandmothers, were the ones who supported African families.

“When they get their money they buy a bag of mealie meal, cabbage and tomatoes for all of us and when you are lucky that day they buy chicken and you eat chicken that day, so why are you not giving them more money because you know where they’re taking the money to?” Malema asked.

Malema told the large crowd in Madadeni that they should not be enticed by ANC T-shirts, because they had been given T-shirts and no jobs from the time of the late ANC president Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma and now Cyril Ramaphosa, but instead they should demand proper housing, jobs and other services from the governing party.

| THEO JEPTHA African News Agency (ANA) EFF president Julius Malema received a rousing welcome from scores of supporters in Inanda in Durban on Tuesday. Malema also campaigned in Newcastle.