Who’s next? Security, hospitality sectors & farms could soon get a visit from Malema over not hiring locals

EFF leader Julius Malema has vowed to visit different institutions after the party visited restaurants on Wednesday to assess the employment ratio of locals and foreign nationals.

Addressing media, Malema reiterated the visits were not a fight against foreign nationals, but to challenge business owners who refuse to hire locals so they can exploit foreigners.

“We will be visiting different institutions from time to time. This is not a one-off thing. We will also visit different institutions, especially where we get tip-offs, in the security industry, hospitality industry and farms,” said Malema. 

Malema said the EFF will continue assessing the employment ratio in different branches, regions and provinces. 

“The confrontation should not be with the employees. No foreigner should be a target of assault by any of our people. And no person should speak of [wanting] 70% or 90% South African [employees], that’s the kind of madness we don’t wanna hear. 

“All we want is a fair representation on the shop’s floor and if that’s the case we are more than satisfied because foreigners are at home when they are here,” he said.

Malema also took a subtle shot at the Patriotic Alliance (PA) for closing down foreign-owned shops allegedly selling expired goods.

PA leader Gayton McKenzie said the party would not stop raiding shops until “illegal foreigners are home”.

“No-one — doesn’t matter if they are a gangster, former gangster or bantiti [convict] — will drive Africans out of Africa. It will never happen, we will never allow it. We will always be on the side of Africans, including Zimbabweans and Nigerians,” said Malema. 

TimesLIVE ran a poll asking readers what they thought of Malema’s decision to assess the nationality of workers.

51% said it was wrong because it shouldn’t matter where a person comes from, while 49% believed the initiative was good, saying business owners must employ South Africans first.