Julius Malema wants to raise pensions to R4,500, give free water and electricity to grant recipients, and increase social grants to young women

EFF leader Julius Malema said that pensions should be raised to at least R4,500 per month and that young women should receive higher social grant payments.

He added that all social grant beneficiaries should receive free water and electricity, and that the government should pay an allowance to all unemployed graduates.

Malema shared these views during a discussion with Nandi Madida on The Motherhood Network podcast.

The EFF leader argued that higher social grants and free water and electricity will prevent many social ills in South Africa.

One of these social ills, he said, was that young women sleep with old men, called sugar daddies, because they need money.

“The government must be the sugar daddy for these young women. No man should be a sugar daddy,” Malema said.

“My point is that we need to look after children, especially those receiving social grants. As the government, we need to pay them.”

“Right now, we are paying very little. We need to pay more to the extent that a girl child will see no need to date an older man.”

He went further, arguing that schools should provide children with three meals per day and significantly increase child grants.

“We shouldn’t be giving children R550, which is less than what Cyril Ramaphosa’s dogs eat in a day,” he said.

“The current quality of life does not allow us to claim that the money given to these children is sufficient.”

“We need to evaluate the basket of goods needed to feed a child for a full month and calculate that cost.”

Free water and electricity to all grant recipients

Malema also wants all South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) grant recipients to receive free water and electricity.

“There is no point in a mother receiving a child support grant if she has to use it to pay for water and electricity,” he said.

He argued that the government knows a mother is poor, which is why it gives that person’s child a grant.

“However, all of that grant money is taken back to pay for water and electricity, leaving barely enough to buy food,” he said.

“When we take office, we will go into the SASSA offices and request their data. We will integrate that data directly into the municipal system.”

“It will automatically identify all SASSA beneficiaries and exempt them from paying for water and electricity.”

He also called for all old-age grant recipients to receive R4,500 and above, funded by cutting executive perks.

“You take the money currently allocated to deputy ministers, redirect funds lost to wasteful expenditure, and recover the money lost to corruption,” he said.

“You reduce the money spent on ministers. We aren’t saying we shouldn’t have any ministers at all, but we should reduce their number.”

“South Africa should eliminate deputy ministers entirely, stop wasteful spending, and end corruption.”

Malema also advocated for all unemployed graduates to receive a special allowance from the state.

“When it comes to graduates, you either provide them with employment, or if you cannot give them jobs, you provide them with a graduate allowance,” he said.

“It makes no sense to keep sending our children to school and investing so much money into education if nothing comes of it.”

“That is why I am introducing the concept of a graduate allowance, because it is completely doable.”

He argued that the number of people eligible for this money is not some crazy figure that the government cannot manage to take care of.