Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema said there could be no job creation without land. He was addressing supporters outside Kayamnadi in Stellenbosch.
Malema continued his campaign to the Cape Winelands of the Western Cape. He also addressed EFF supporters in Embekweni, Paarl.
Malema expressed concern over the collapse of the textile industry, which is the state's biggest job creator.
“If you don't own the land, you don't have a job. With the land comes factories and the textile industry. The Western Cape used to have one of the biggest industries, but now the textile industry has collapsed. Create jobs. If we want to, we need to revive the textile industry. We need to open factories and industrialize South Africa, because if we don't industrialize South Africa there will never be jobs. We need to get the farms into the hands of the people. And farm workers have rights and must be paid a decent wage. Farm workers must not be paid a regular wage on the farm. They have to have jobs, those jobs have to be guaranteed, and there have to be pension funds for those jobs.”
president @Julius_S_ Malema Today in Stellenbosch at a community meeting with the people of Kayamnadi.
Kayamnadi falls under the jurisdiction of one of South Africa's wealthiest municipalities (Stellenbosch).
Rupert passes these communities every day without shame, but they continue to accumulate… pic.twitter.com/3spq7UJ60V
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) May 18, 2024
Elections 2024 | EFF Campaign in Western Cape:
call for unity
EFF leaders called on people of color and African communities in the Western Cape to unite.
“Comrades, we must build unity among the people of the Western Cape. We are all survivors of apartheid oppression, so we don't have to be against each other. We have one common enemy. This is Rupert who owns all of South Africa. We have to have a problem with this guy because this Rupert and his family own all of South Africa. When we say yes, we mean everything. The toothpaste you used this morning was also made by Rupert's. Not one of us came here today without using Rupert's. How can one family own everything?”
'Better life'
Malema told supporters in Kayamnadi, where he was campaigning, that prisoners had a better life than those not in prison.
“Our citizens who are not in prison must live a better life than prisoners. They cannot live worse than prisoners. Some people even think: You don't have water, but the prison has water 24/7. You don't have electricity, but they have flushing toilets. There are no flushing toilets in prison. How can prisoners who have done bad things to us fare better than those of us who have done no wrong to anyone?”