LISTEN | 'Hire locals' - Malema visiting restaurants to check how many workers are foreign nationals

EFF leader Julius Malema will on Wednesday visit restaurants to assess the employment ratio of locals and foreign nationals.

He said this was not a fight against foreign nationals, but to challenge business owners who refuse to hire locals so they can exploit foreigners. 

“Let the enemy not distort the message. We are not fighting against fellow Africans. Those are the people we are protecting because they are being exploited. This is not about the Zimbabweans, Mozambicans or people from Lesotho. It’s about locals. Everywhere you do business, hire locals,” he said.

Malema and the party leadership will visit Kream restaurant in the Mall of Africa.

The party said he will interact with the management of the restaurant to ensure both locals and foreign nationals are employed at a satisfactory rate.

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‘Don’t hate foreigners’

Malema told party supporters during the Siyabonga rally on January 8 they needed to challenge exploitive labour practices.

He said this should not fuel xenophobic attacks. 

“When you go to restaurants and foreigners are working there, do not hate foreigners. Hate the owner of the restaurant because those foreigners did not hire themselves,” said Malema.

He said the party’s leadership will engage business owners in the hospitality industry about the employment ratio.

“We want the owner of the Hilton Hotel to tell us how many South Africans are working there. Every hospitality industry must be visited. It’s the programme of the EFF. Do not fight our African brothers and sisters. You must tell them ‘the reason they hire you is because they want to violate your rights’,” said Malema.