Thokozile Mnguni
EFF leader Julius Malema told thousands of supporters at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Youth Day, “We came to Pretoria because our problems started here in Pretoria.”
“Solomon Mahlangu was hanged here in Pretoria.”
“Nelson Mandela was sent to Robben Island from here in Pretoria.”
He said the 1976 generation paid the ultimate price for resisting apartheid education.
“Fighters, the 1976 generation was killed because they refused to learn in Afrikaans.”
Malema has delivered a sharply critical Youth Day address, accusing political leaders of failing young people and condemning widening inequality, unemployment and gender based violence.
Malema said ordinary citizens continue to carry the burden of economic hardship while leaders live in comfort.
“The government tells us to tighten our belts while they fly in private jets. They tell us to be patient while their ministers drive in convoys that cost more than entire households earn in a year,” he said.
Malema said young people are trapped in poverty and exclusion from the economy.
“Young people are choosing between data to apply for jobs and bread to eat. This is not an exaggeration; this is the daily reality of millions,” he said.
He said unemployment cannot be reduced to statistics alone.
“The betrayal of the youth is not only measured in unemployment statistics. It is measured in broken homes,” he said.
Malema said inequality and lack of economic transformation continue to fuel frustration among young people.
He said the EFF would prioritise fixing basic service delivery if in government.
“The EFF will fix the water infrastructure, stop the leaking, and make sure every drop of water arrives at the place,” he said.
He also set out the party’s position on energy and resources.
“We want coal produced in South Africa to be used to produce electricity for South Africans, and sell it to South Africans cheaper, because it is their own mineral resource, it is a God-given mineral resource, which must be spent on South Africans, so that we can have cheaper electricity.”
“Beneficiation must happen in South Africa.”
He linked unemployment to structural economic change.
“Only the EFF can stop that unemployment. How do you stop unemployment? We need to nationalise the mines; we need to process every product that comes underground here in South Africa.”
Malema also spoke on leadership discipline and accountability.
“We cannot have lazy leaders. We cannot have leaders who look down on the masses.”
“So, there is going to be a lot of attacks on the leadership of the EFF and on the EFF. Why?”
He criticised internal performance standards within political structures.
“You know, some of the leaders of the EFF, you ask them to go and register 50 people from the school they went to themselves, their own school. Till today, they have not registered those people.”
He said leadership must be rooted in service.
“A leader must serve the people. Not the other way around… once a leader wants to be served by the members… red flag!”
“So, what kind of a leader is this one? We need hardworking individuals who represent our communities.”
He said councillors must take responsibility for their communities.
“A ward councillor is a mother or a father of the orphans of that particular ward.”
Malema also spoke on gender based violence and social safety.
“The women of this country must feel free; must know that this is their home.”
“The children of this country must be allowed to be children and not be scared of their father, who is going to come back drunk, start abusing the mother.”
He also called for expanded digital access and free connectivity.
“WiFi must be free of charge; WiFi must be available 24 hours. That’s why we are fighting in parliament that Data Must Fall.”
He called for the removal of school uniform costs.
“Why should children buy a uniform? Uniform must be free of charge!
He said the youth had taken a clear political stance.
“The youth of South Africa have declared a political position. A clear demonstration of ‘not on my watch.’”
He ended his address by leading supporters in song, saying, “It’s war.”