EMPOWERMENT
Malema calls on banks to venture beyond charity
Malema says the private sector spends money on shoes and iPads, but not on accommodation or school fees
EFF leader Julius Malema has torn into the private sector and criticised companies such as Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) and Absa for treating poor black people like "charity cases". Speaking at the RMB Macro Forum in Sandton on Thursday, Malema said the private sector spent money on shoes and iPads, but not on accommodation or school fees. "We don’t want you to do those things of charity. We are not a charity case, we can buy shoes and iPads on our own. We just want to be empowered. We don’t need RMB and Absa to come give us charity," he said. Malema took shots at RMB and Absa for using charity as a marketing ploy rather than dealing with real challenges. "Why do you even want to tell people you’re feeding us, why can’t you just do it quietly?" he asked. His party’s economic policy remained one of "redistributive growth", Malema said, with free education at the heart of wealth redistribution. "You cannot give senior positions and strategic positions to illiterates because they will coll...
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