'Prisoners get three meals a day while youth go to bed on empty stomachs': Malema
Speaking at a mass funeral service in Vryheid in KwaZulu-Natal for seven of the 10 party members who died in a bus crash near Ulundi on Monday night, Malema highlighted the disparity between government spending on prisoners vs support for young people.
Malema said their deaths were a painful reminder that young black people in the country were not prioritised.
'Almost one in every two young people is without work,' he said. 'They wake up every morning with no salary, no opportunity and no dignity. They stand on street corners with degrees and diplomas while others are even denied the chance to study because this government has failed to deliver free, quality, decolonised education and promises made on stages but forgotten in boardrooms.
'Meanwhile we live in a country where prisoners receive three meals a day, have access to free uniforms and are offered education and rehabilitation programmes while young people go to bed on an empty stomach, wear torn clothes and are forced to drop out of school because they cannot afford registration fees.'
The youth unemployment rate in South Africa increased to 46.1% in the first quarter of 2025, with millions of young people aged 15 to 34 without work.
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