The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) believes the ANC government’s policy of giving title deeds to land tenants betrays the need to ensure proper land redistribution in the country.
Addressing the party’s delegates in Johannesburg, EFF leader Julius Malema said a gradual and right-wing approach to land reform must be resisted.
“The position basically is that the government will come contributing pieces of paper in areas where Black people are staying without relocating them to any other area. If you have doubts that the policy of distributing title deeds is part of the establishment policies, just look at the fact that Johan Rupert was personally distributing title deeds to informal settlement dwellers in Stellenbosch municipality and, recently, Investec was doing the same in Soshanguve. They are creating a false sense of ownership by distributing pieces of paper and not pieces of land, which is our primary target.”
Malema has sought to clarify the party’s vision of a socialist state. He says contrary to popular perception, the party does not seek to strip individuals of their individual ownership rights and will promote democracy and human rights.
“Socialism does not mean the state and government ownership. It is not a state where private non-exploitative property such as houses, cars and clothes will commonly be shared. Socialism is about ending private ownership of the means of production; it’s about ending the private ownership of mines, farms and monopoly industries. Socialism does not do away with personal non-exploitative property, it does away with private property owned by individuals and used to make profit.”
Malema further says the party must establish a Women’s Command to be a separate exclusive force to deal with the scourge of gender-based violence in the country. He says the abuse of women and children is ingrained in the cultural and traditional DNA of South Africans.
He went as far as saying many women are just tools to be used by men for sex and as domestic slaves.
He’s called on women to stand together to fight gender-based violence and to protect each other.
“The women of our country are abused and many of them, including girl children, are told not to report those crimes because they are family affairs, it needs elders to come and resolve the beating. There is no better place to resolve sexual abuse or violent crimes than the police station. Never listen to any elderly advice that says: do not report an abusive man because it’s family affairs.”
The EFF’s second National People’s Assembly continues in Nasrec.
Today delegates will elect a new leadership.
Watch related videos below:
