PRETORIA - Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema has reiterated his call for land expropriation without compensation.
Speaking at the launch of the EFF's 168-page elections manifesto at the Giant Stadium in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria on Saturday, he said, "The land is coming back to our people whether they like it or not.
"We are going to amend section 25 of the Constitution to allow expropriation of land without compensation. We won't pay them. They took our land by force, they killed our people, they raped our people, they stole the land. We cannot reward murders.
"We want our land back, that issue is non-negotiable. The land must be owned by the State. There will be land council, that land council is where you will go and ask for land and you explain what you want to do with the land," he said.
A number of Pan Africanist Congress of Azania supporters were also in the 18,000-seat stadium, which was filled to capacity with some people standing on the grass.
Malema promised that under EFF leadership builders would earn R7000, petrol attendants R6500, cleaners R4500, domestic workers R5000, security guards R7500, and waiters and waitresses would earn R4500.
Education would be free and compulsory. "You will be forced to go to school. We will take you there by force. If we find that you don't go to school we will put you in a police van and we take you there by force," Malema said.
While the EFF promised to fight poverty and unemployment, the manifesto did not give a clear indication of how many people would be employed, but the party promised that it would lead a massive and protected sustainable industrial development and diversification programme to create millions of jobs between 2019 and 2024.
African News Agency (ANA)