RATE IT: Property wealth tax, free electricity & grave sites — here’s how life would change under the EFF

Building RDP houses in Sandton, taxing the rich and providing free electricity. 

These are some of the promises made by EFF leader Julius Malema during the launch of the party’s election manifesto in Johannesburg on Sunday.

The party also celebrated what would have been the 85th birthday of the late struggle icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

Here are five promises from the red berets:

Free electricity 

Malema said EFF councillors will compile lists of poor residents who cannot afford to buy electricity to be cleared by Eskom.

“If Eskom refuses to give you free electricity, we will take up that fight with Eskom until the Constitutional Court because we believe it is your right to receive free electricity.”

Municipal bursaries for the poor 

Children of the poor will not be marginalised from receiving education, said Malema, who promised to implement municipal bursaries for the poor.

“The municipality will go to the department of education and ask ‘where are the children of our municipality who have passed matric?’ and then look through that list as to which ones come from poor families and allocate bursaries to them.”

Property wealth tax 

Malema said the rich and those living in mansions will pay property wealth tax to assist the poor in townships and rural areas. 

“We are going to tax them because they are rich. They must subsidise the poor. Including myself, I stay in Sandton, I will pay wealth tax to subsidise the poor. That is the only practical way we can share the wealth of the country,” he said.

Paying for grave sites 

The firebrand leader said the poor and SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) beneficiaries will not pay for grave sites under the EFF government.

“There is no poor family that is going to pay for a grave. Why must we pay to bury our loved ones? We are poor. Everyone who is indigent, everyone who is a beneficiary of Sassa, must never pay for a grave. The grave must be free of charge.”

Sheltering the homeless

Under EFF governance, homeless people will be a thing of the past. Malema said homeless children will be provided with shelters.

“The children will stay in shelters and we will connect them to free schools, where they will be educated and become better people.”