Economic Freedom Fighters leader, Julius Malema says South Africans need to open their hearts and welcome people from other African countries with open arms.
Malema was speaking during his party’s Heritage Day rally in Manguzi, Northern KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday. He says Africa is one and Africans must fight for the unity of the African people.
He condemned sentiments often made against foreign nationals who are in South Africa. Malema says many foreign nationals who are in South Africa fled their countries due to unpleasant circumstances.
No heritage without tolerance
“South Africans can never speak about heritage, but refuse to want Zimbabweans or any other person from another African country,” Malema said.
“You do not want Zimbabweans, they take your jobs. They take your jobs from who? Who is the owner of the jobs? The white man? Look at yourself in the mirror and see a Zimbabwean, and see an African so that tomorrow when you see a person from Zimbabwe you know this is my brother, this is my sister. Their struggles are our struggles, we will whip them together.” Malema adds.
Meanwhile community members at the rally say they have lost hope because of the challenges facing the country. Residents lamented the impact of loadshedding, water shortages and corruption as huge setbacks to socio- economic prosperity.
Residents say, “Things are falling apart because we have a problem with loadshedding, and we don’t have adequate water supply. Our children are unemployed even those who have qualifications. For three days we have been without electricity due to loadshedding. The country is moving backwards. We keep on voting but there is no change, we are getting nothing in return.”
Malema says loadshedding could have widespread repercussions, even leading to job losses.
“All the SOE have collapsed, and the jobs are gone. When we say one million jobs are lost you must know that 7 million people are affected because when one person is working they look after a lot of people and tomorrow when the jobs are no more you must know a lot of our people are in hunger.”
Malema also used the opportunity to reiterate the call for men to stand up against Gender Based Violence.
EFF Heritage Day Rally Manguzi 2022 https://t.co/7aCIV0iYUu
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) September 24, 2022
