Celani Sikhakhane
The outspoken leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, Julius Malema, has sparked outrage after encouraging young people to stop being lazy and have at least ten children.
Malema was speaking at Arkerville, in Mpumalanga on Wednesday, where he was on the campaign trail for the upcoming municipal elections.
The EFF leader said that young people should stop being misled by the urban middle class elite, who he says encourage people to have only three or four offspring.
He said that young people should get back in the habit of bearing ten children, just like their grandparents did.
Malema used the controversial remark to make the point that if the EFF gets into power, all children will be fully supported with social grants from birth until varsity.
The explosive comments immediately caused a storm on social media.
One Twitter user, who was angered by the remarks, wrote: “This is one of the main causes of poverty and unemployment in SA. What an irresponsible thing to say.”
Another, Thulani Thulani, warned against Malema’s comments and said that Black people will suffer from poverty if they continue to listen to him.
“HIV & AIDS stats going up every day and he’s still encouraging people to continue have unprotected sex,” Thulani wrote on Twitter.
This is not the first time Malema has taken it upon himself to comment on the number of children South Africans should have.
In 2014, he told the nation to go forth and multiply, arguing that it is encouraged in the Bible.
The South African government is spending billions of Rands per month on social grants, including child support grants.
In July, the Children’s Institute asked parliament to increase the Child Support Grant (CSG) by a “meagre” R10 in October to mitigate food price hikes and offer some protection against child hunger and malnutrition.
According to Katharine Hall of the Children’s Institute, the value of the grant currently buys even less in 2021 than it did in 2020.
“As it is, the CSG is too small to cover the cost of minimum basic nutrition for a child,” said Hall.
