The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has given Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga seven days to shut down schools over fears of rising COVID-19 cases amongst learners or it will take matters into its own hands 

“Schools must close, and they must close with immediate effect because our children are going to die. We give the minister seven days to close schools, failure to do so, we’ll have to close schools ourselves as the EFF.”

Using his own experience with his children, the EFF’s commander in chief said all three had been turned back from schooling due to their own classmates contracting the virus.

Malema also called on private schools to lead in the calling off learning – saying children had become recent victims of the pandemic and that the EFF would not allow them to die on its watch.