Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema on Wednesday has visited restaurants in Midrand, north of Johannesburg, to check employment ratios, as calls continue to employ more South Africans.
Malema has vowed to continue pushing for all restaurants in South Africa to employ more South Africans than foreign nationals. He was at Kream Restaurant at the Mall of Africa in Johannesburg.
The EFF leader has for several times raised concerns about the continuing tendency of restaurant owners, where they only hire foreign nationals all in the name of exploiting them, with minimal salary.
“It must not even be reduced to numbers, there must be a sufficient presence on the shop floor. And you will see these people will work together, they will co-exist and there will be no problems. But when they hire only Africans, they are instigating our people against each other. We need the unity of Africa.”
The party has called on businesses to make sure at least 60% of their staff are South Africans.
Malema says he wasn’t shutting down any shops, and that this was not a xenophobic call, but that it would stop employers from exploiting foreign nationals, whose rights, he argues, were undermined when there were no South African workers in a company.
[HAPPENING NOW]: CIC @Julius_S_Malema entering Ponta restaurants at Mall Of Africa for a meeting with them.
The CIC is conducting a visit to restaurants to check the employment ratio between South African citizens and foreign nationals. #MalemaRestaurantVisit pic.twitter.com/ByFB6JM6sK
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) January 19, 2022
Party members stood singing, outside Kream restaurant, while the leadership held talks with the owner, who had earlier refused to engage the party.
“If they can’t meet me, they can’t operate. I’ll stand here. I’m not [a] fool. They said to me we are ready to meet you, come today [Wednesday]. Why would South Africans run away from the conversation? I’m not fighting. No one has brought masses here. I came with the leadership.”
“He [the business owner] operates in South Africa, and therefore by virtue of operating in the public space he’s got the responsibility to be answerable. The targeting of foreigners is misleading. We are going to the real people who want to cause xenophobia in South Africa,” adds Malema.
[HAPPENING NOW]: Kream representative is refusing a meeting with CIC @Julius_S_Malema #MalemaRestaurantVisit pic.twitter.com/vuplde8YSS
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) January 19, 2022
