EFF donates R500k to KZN flood victims 'for all nationalities and races'

The EFF has donated half a million rand towards helping flood victims in Durban.

Party leader Julius Malema on Thursday visited an informal settlement in Durban, where more than 50 homes were washed away.

At KwaMsuthu near Reservoir Hills, Malema met families who had lost loved ones, homes and other possessions, including identification documents.

At a church where families are being housed, the EFF leader handed over blankets, mattresses and food.

He emphasised that the donations were not for specific nationalities, ethnic groups or races and were strictly for the needy.

“People want to engage in discriminatory programmes. In these informal settlements, you find foreign nationals and therefore [some] say those foreign nationals cannot be our responsibility.

“They are in our land — what is important is human life. What is important is to make sure that everyone who is in SA must feel safe and protected by the leadership of SA irrespective of where they come from,” said Malema. 

He said the devastation was a matter that affected all humans and the EFF would not discriminate.

“We are here for humanity, we are not here for xenophobia or divisive comments. What is important is to save lives,” said Malema.

The EFF leader said the money donated by the EFF will go to the church which is housing victims and providing them with meals, rather than the government. This, he said, was because as he does not believe the latter path will lead to it reaching its intended recipients.

He criticised the KwaZulu-Natal government's response to the disaster.

The province is recovering from floods that claimed the lives of about 440 people, with dozens missing and scores displaced after their homes were destroyed in the deluge.

“They have not been here to check the health of the children — but everywhere else where the bridges have fallen and the roads have been washed away because there's a possibility for tenders. They follow the money, they don't follow the people,” he said.

While Malema said he believes displaying food handovers, especially when helping the poor, is a display of their poverty — he said the moment called for help to be handed over publicly.

“We are in a disaster — we need everyone to come on board but some people only act when they see you act. Here when they heard I [was] coming they brought a TLB to help with some bridges,” Malema claimed.

He called for the government to resettle people from the informal settlement urgently — adding that the government should expropriate land if need be.

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