Bushbuckridge - Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema believes a proper government will cease child grants and instead create decent jobs for parents and guardians.
“Young women are full of shame queuing for their children's grants. Don't give us grants, give us jobs,” Malema told hundreds of Bushbuckridge residents on Wednesday afternoon, a Sapa correspondent reported from Mpumalanga.
He said the only reason people were receiving grants was because of a lack of planning from the African National Congress-led government.
“No one can be proud that I can't support my children. Social grants are undermining our people. If they spend millions on social grants, why can't they use that money to create jobs?” Malema said.
“Young women should not queue for grants, they should be at work, with their make-up on. You will see how beautiful a working person is.
“When someone starts working, her beauty is plain for all to see, the hairstyle is elegant. Hunger and poverty hides their beauty.”
He said social grants should be for the elderly, and that young people who stayed at home due to lack of employment had “limited minds”.
Once people started working, they challenged each other's thinking, but when they stayed home they started to gossip because they did not have topics to discuss, he said.
Malema criticised the government for building small houses for the poor.
“We don't want RDP houses; they don't give anyone dignity. You should understand that a dining room is not about being luxurious; it's a space for the family to bond; where parents pass their values to their children so they grow up thinking well and create societal value,” Malema said.
He said houses should also have flushing toilets and showers.
“We want to build quality houses and showers. You know all about the shower; you must have one in your own house. Parents should be able to reproduce in their own bedrooms, not share bedrooms with their children,” said Malema.
He said the EFF was an organisation for the poor.
Sapa