The EFF leader challenged the government to enact and implement relief measures for young people and society at large while reflecting on the economic and unemployment challenges faced by many.

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema on Tuesday called for several reforms and improvements in the education system as the country reflected on the 1976 generation that rose up against apartheid laws.

Malema addressed an EFF virtual Youth Day rally, saying the time to pay lip service to honouring the 1976 generation should end.

He challenged the government to enact and implement relief measures for young people and society at large while reflecting on the economic and unemployment challenges faced by many.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus not only the broader racial and economic inequalities in our country, but has also exposed how our education sector is based on the same apartheid separate development that characterised schooling in 1976,” Malema said.

Malema implored the youth not to turn to alcohol instead of dealing head-on with the challenges of the day.

“We must encourage young people to be politically conscious and engage in activities that will develop them, and their communities,” he said.

South Africa has an unemployment rate that is over 29% that mostly affects young people, who are kept out of the labour market by lack of opportunities and skills.