EFF leader Julius Malema believes the recent attacks on foreigners in Durban are a sign of self-hate.

Malema was addressing hundreds of students at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) on Tuesday.

"Stop the self-hate! Africans are you. The reason you beat them up is that you don't love yourself. You see your beauty or ugliness in them and therefore you don't like what you see in the mirror because those people look like you," Malema told the students. 

He was referring to the recent attacks on foreigners living in Durban - particularly in areas such as Sydenham, Jadhu Place informal settlement and Overport - at the beginning of April. Many were attacked and forced to seek shelter at community halls or places of worship.

"We could bring a bus to KZN and take all the Zimbabweans and you will still be unemployed," he said.

Nationalisation, argued Malema, was the solution to South Africa's problems.

Malema's visit to the university was part of a week-long visit to the province ahead of the national elections on May 8.

He also addressed students on the thorny issue of free education, saying late president Nelson Mandela "made a mistake in 1994 by prioritising RDP houses".

"The first priority should have been free education ... If we had given people free education in 1994, it would not need RDP houses because people would get jobs and build houses of their own," he said.

Earlier on Tuesday morning, Malema took a Metrorail train from Umlazi to Durban Central. He described the 45-minute trip with commuters as an "experience and a half".