EFF leader Julius Malema made a bold declaration to the people of crime-riddled Mthatha and its surrounds on Tuesday.
He claimed an EFF government could root out all crime within six months if voted into power.
Malema, accompanied by his deputy, Floyd Shivambu, and AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, addressed a community meeting at Mthatha’s King Sabata Dalindyebo TVET College.
The three leaders arrived to a raucous welcome from the crowd, which was composed mainly of young people and students.
“Our children must be safe here in Mthatha,” Malema said.
“This thing of drugs and this thing of you being among the highest murders, the EFF can stop that in less than six months.
“Because you know the criminals.
“Once we know who these gangsters are, we will then set a trap for them and if they take out a firearm and point it at the police, we drop them same time.
“We don’t negotiate with criminals.”
He said no criminal would dare point a firearm at a police member under EFF rule and “receive a rose”.
“We are going to stop these murders in Mthatha because this must be a land of peace.
“The land of Nelson Mandela will have law and order under the EFF.
“We cannot surrender the streets to criminals.
“We must all fear the law."
Malema also took a swipe at the ANC government for “destroying Mthatha”.
“The EFF says Mthatha must be returned to its former glory,” he said.
“It used to be a beautiful city and it used to have a promising future and factories that were closed down.
“We did not ask them to build a bigger Mthatha but at least they should have maintained what they had.
“They destroyed everything they found in this city because everywhere they go, they destroy.”
Residents have been critical about the “filthy” state of Mthatha in recent years, with organised business warning this could force investors to stay away from the area.
Malema, who touched on several subjects, said many areas like Mthatha were battling poor road infrastructure under ANC rule as well as acute electricity and water challenges.
He said the only way rural areas could also develop thriving economies was if they were accessible.
“Road infrastructure must be in a good condition,” he said.
“The supply of water and electricity must be reliable.
“Otherwise, there will never be a village here in the OR Tambo district that has a shopping mall unless the roads are proper.
“No-one wants to invest in an area that is inaccessible.”
He promised that should the EFF ascend to power after May 29, it would increase social grants to about R4,000.
It would also provide free education from the early childhood development level all the way to university.
Pupils would also be provided with free breakfast and lunch every schooling day.
He assured the crowd that the social grant payouts by Sassa would not stop if the ANC lost power after the elections.
“That is not ANC money but your money that you pay whenever you go and buy at a shop.
“If you look at the receipt, you will see there is something called VAT that is charged. That is where they get this money for grants.”
Malema also held a meeting with the people of Butterworth on Tuesday afternoon.
He will round up his Eastern Cape tour with a visit to Gqeberha.
He also told students from the college who were among the crowd that their school needed to reflect the name of the leader it was named after.
It needed to become a centre of excellence where research, practicals and theory were provided.
But the theory had to be tailored to prevailing political dynamics and economic requirements of the OR Tambo district.
He said the only way the government could create more jobs was to reopen the many factories which had been closed down and also go the industrialisation route.
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