It is nationalisation that will reconcile and unite South Africans, African National Congress Youth League president Julius Malema said on Thursday night.

“Everyone has the right to benefit from wealth in South Africa,” he told residents and students at the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto campus.

“Since the debate on nationalisation, every rich family has spoken in defence of their property … all of them, they are in Stellenbosch — the Stellenbosch mafia.”

Malema believed they had spoken against nationalisation because they stood to lose.

He urged students not to believe economists — especially “the three white men” being televised on SABC — as they were “feeding people lies”.

He referred to the Commission of Employment Equity report released on Wednesday which said that whites still occupied 73.1% of top management positions in the country.

“South Africa is divided as we speak. We’ve got two economies in one country, two nations in one country, and it is nationalisation that will unite us.”

Exploitation

He said that 10% of the South African population was made up of white people yet they controlled 90% of the wealth.

“We want to resolve this, every generation has a mission. From today, you are the generation of economic freedom fighters.” Malema said nationalisation would lead to industrialisation and job creation.

The Kimberley community would no longer have to be hopeless, even though “the coloniser continues to exploit mineral resources, and failed to build even one university in Kimberley, yet they continue to benefit”.

Malema said the discovery of diamonds should have made Kimberley like Johannesburg. He said the mineral wealth must benefit these mining communities.

“In fact, mines have brought nothing but pain and suffering and illnesses to those communities, and we sit back and allow that to continue.” Malema said the liberation struggle was not over and that it was the league’s responsibility to campaign for economic freedom.

Courage is needed

Malema contended that “the enemy” was not ready to surrender economic power, and was threatening its ruling party leaders with civil war.

With regards to property relations, he said the league was told the Constitution did not allow changes.

“We can change that constitution. For you to change that constitution you need political willingness from the leadership and you need courageous leaders.

“We must use Parliament to change the conditions of our people.”

Speaking on education, the league wanted the government to renovate former black institutions to give black students free quality education.

Education

Government must invest money in black communities because that was where it was needed, he said.

Malema told the youth that the struggle for economic emancipation would be difficult terrain but that the youth must be trained with the necessary experience and qualifications.

He said only the ANC government could deliver that.

“We want to find lasting solutions … the type of education that will liberate all of us.”

Malema got the crowd cheering by urging them to reconnect with the 1976 Soweto Uprising generation, which he described as a strong militant group.

‘De Klerk remains the enemy’

On the sidelines, Malema took a swipe at former president FW de Klerk, saying he remained an enemy.

“Mandela was not released by De Klerk. Mandela was released by South Africa. De Klerk remains the enemy … We don’t need De Klerk as a role model.”

He appealed to youngsters to remove the pictures of entertainment celebrities from their bedroom walls and replace them with pictures of local freedom fighters.

“This is so a picture revives your political consciousness,” Malema said. — Sapa