EFF's Malema calls on govt to declare 16 August a public holiday
JOHANNESBURG - Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema is calling for the government to declare 16 August a public holiday. This is the day on which 34 mineworkers were brutally killed by police during a protest in Marikana, in the North West.
Those events led to the launch of Malema's political party, which happened the following year.
As the families of the miners who were killed in the 2012 Marikana massacre continue to call for justice, the EFF wants 16 August to be declared the 13th public holiday of South Africa.
Malema said that in commemoration of the 34 slain mineworkers, the day should be officially declared as the national Worker’s Day.
"It will happen when the EFF takes the government of North West and South Africa. This will be a national heritage site."
He said that one of the party’s plans was to also turn the Marikana koppie into a heritage site.
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