Malema says GNU won’t grow the economy or create jobs

By Thapelo Molefe

EFF leader Julius Malema has accused the Government of National Unity (GNU) of plunging South Africa into economic stagnation, saying the coalition has “no structural capacity, no imagination and no intention” to grow the economy or address soaring unemployment and inequality.

Briefing the media on Thursday after the party’s Central Command Team (CCT) meeting in Limpopo, Malema said the GNU’s economic performance in 2025, which recorded growth of just 0.5% across all three quarters, is proof that the coalition is “incapable of steering South Africa out of crisis.”

“The current GNU has failed to grow the economy and create jobs in successive quarters,” Malema said. 

“This is not a statistical anomaly. It is a deliberate outcome of a political arrangement designed to protect a colonial economic architecture while shutting out the black majority from meaningful participation.”

Malema said unemployment levels, with more than 11 million people jobless, underline a crisis caused by austerity-driven policy choices.

“They have chosen austerity over industrialisation, outsourcing over state capacity, privatisation over developmental governance,” he said.

“The result is predictable —stagnant growth, collapsing infrastructure and an economy defined by extraction without production.”

He argued that the GNU has failed to present any clear economic direction, insisting that: “There is no industrial policy, no localisation programme, no developmental vision. The GNU cannot grow the economy because it has no structural capability to do so.”

Malema also criticised National Treasury’s budgeting approach, describing it as a continuation of neoliberal governance.

“Budgeting has become a ritual of austerity,” he said.

“Every chance to stimulate growth, ignite industrialisation or expand public capacity has been ignored. Instead, we see cuts that deepen inequality and suppress mobility.”

He criticised the fuel levy increase implemented earlier this year, saying the GNU had “lied to the nation” by promising alternative revenue measures that never materialised.

“Their only idea is to tax the poor more aggressively,” Malema said. “They speak of reform, but what they offer is recycled austerity wrapped in public relations.”

Malema said workers have become the biggest victims of the GNU’s economic posture.

“Workers now face a cruel binary, accept wages that guarantee poverty or remain unemployed indefinitely,” he said.

“In both cases, capital wins while communities suffocate.”

He accused the coalition of actively reversing labour gains, saying: “The GNU governs as though the working class is disposable. Economic dignity has become a privilege reserved for elites.”

Malema argued that the collapse of municipalities and state-owned entities (SOEs) is directly linked to governance choices.

“Municipalities are collapsing because they are treated as trading companies instead of developmental institutions,” he said. 

“Transnet, Eskom, Denel and SAA are being hollowed out, and infrastructure spending is nowhere near adequate to stimulate demand.”

According to Malema, the coalition’s failures are not simply administrative but ideological.

“What we confront is not just a governance crisis, it is an ideological crisis,” he said. 

“The GNU exists to prevent redistribution of wealth. It is not a break from the past; it is a continuation of the same neoliberal project that has suffocated this country for a decade.”

He said the state refuses to lead industrial development because doing so would threaten powerful interests.

“The GNU waits passively for foreign investors who will never industrialise this country,” Malema said. 

“Meanwhile, the Public Investment Corporation continues to prop up sectors owned by the establishment, instead of developing productive capacity.”

Malema insisted the EFF remains the only political formation offering a credible alternative to the GNU.

“South Africa deserves leadership capable of building, not outsourcing; industrialising, not privatising; empowering, not excluding,” he said. 

“Only a developmental agenda anchored by the state can reverse the decline and restore the dignity of our people.”

The EFF is expected to intensify its economic campaign against the GNU ahead of the 2026 local government elections, positioning itself as the principal challenger to the coalition’s policy framework.

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