The leader of the EFF, Julius Malema, has urged his members to elect public representatives who will reflect the demographics of the country.
THE LEADER of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Julius Malema, has urged his members to elect public representatives who will reflect the demographics of the country.
Malema said delegates of the party had to bear in mind that South Africa comprises different racial groups and that must be reflected in the candidates they were voting for to go to Parliament.
The EFF was meeting in Durban over the weekend to select 200 candidates to be on the national list to go to the national legislature.
The number of parliamentarians for the EFF grew from 25 MPs in 2014 to 44 members in the 2019 national elections.
In the latest Ipsos poll, the party is surging ahead of the Democratic Alliance (DA) to become the official opposition.
The party held its election manifesto launch at Moses Mabhida stadium where it restated its policy on land, free and compulsory education, health and social security.
Members of the party gathered in Durban where they were going to elect candidates for Parliament.
Malema said there were 600 people who had been nominated for 200 positions. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) requires each party to send 200 names on their national list.
The other candidates will come from province to national lists.
Malema said they want candidates from different racial groups in the country to be on their list to go to Parliament.
“We must make sure that all the demographics of our country are represented in that list. I insist that there must be a white person, there must be a Indian person, there must be a coloured person in our list because our country looks like that and our list must be a reflection of our country.
“When I say a coloured person, when I say a white person and when I say an Indian, I don’t mean one. There can be more. But we can’t have for 10 years in Parliament without a single white person and we are being accused that we hate white people, we don’t hate white people. We hate racism. At least on coloureds we have been doing well, but we can do more. But let the list be a reflection of us as country,” said Malema.
Malema also said those who are nominated to represent the EFF in Parliament must understand their manifesto.
They must read and fully understand the 260-page document to understand the issues they will be advocating in Parliament.
