Malema promises free basic services for SASSA beneficiaries under EFF government

EFF president Julius Malema says an EFF-led government would automatically exempt SASSA beneficiaries and unemployed citizens from paying for basic services such as electricity and water.

EFF leader Julius Malema says that if his party is given the opportunity to govern, it will ensure SASSA beneficiaries receive free basic services, including electricity and water, and that children from poor households would not have to pay registration fees at institutions of higher education.

Malema made the remarks while addressing the EFF Ground Forces Forum in Umsunduzi, Pietermaritzburg, as part of the party's local government election campaign.

This comes as the country is expected to hold local government elections on November 4.

Malema argued that only the EFF could address the challenges facing the country, including high electricity prices.

"Why should electricity be so expensive? Why should Eskom make a profit? We don't want Eskom to make a profit because giving people electricity is not a business. It's a basic right. Profit must be made by companies," he said.

"We are not about making a profit. As long as they generate enough money to sustain themselves, that is enough. Then give our people affordable electricity."

Malema compared the high cost of electricity to a form of economic exclusion, saying it had replaced the racial exclusion of the apartheid era.

"You know, racism works in a different way. In the past, they didn't give us electricity because we're black. They were like, what do they do with electricity? We don't give them electricity.

"Today, because we've got rights and they can't exclude us as blacks, they use money to exclude us. That gives them electricity, but makes it more expensive so that they cannot have electricity. The same thing of apartheid is happening today."

He said many households had electricity infrastructure but could not afford to use it.

"And today is even worse because inside your house, you've got cables. Those cables are not electricity. It's just cables.

"You've got a plug on the wall. It's so painful because when you switch it on, the light doesn't come on because you cannot afford it."

Malema said government systems should be linked so that municipalities could automatically identify SASSA beneficiaries and exempt them from paying for basic services.