As EFF leaders pull themselves out of the woodwork, let’s hope their young followers will follow suit

The sight of EFF spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi proudly strutting to receive his doctorate at the University of the Witwatersrand graduation ceremony this week was obviously an exciting moment for his friends, family and party. But it could also be an important learning moment for the people stuck at the bottom of the ladder, many of whom believe society may have dealt them a bad hand.

A question that was probably in many people’s minds was: where in heaven’s name did Ndlozi get the time to study, given his many responsibilities?

His role in the EFF means he’s often either drafting a press release or in front of a microphone. He seems to be at every demonstration up and down the country.

He’s the National Assembly’s self-appointed sentinel who, if not calling President Jacob Zuma to order, is keeping an eye on those who occasionally take a nap during proceedings. And, I’m sure, like all young men, he has a roving eye.

That he had been able to find the time to finish his studies amid all these other distractions attests to exceptional drive and commitment. He has the oomph. He should be commended for doing so well. As they’d say in the street, jealous down.

Ndlozi’s graduation presented a golden opportunity for party leader Julius Malema to once again show off the academic prowess of his team. They came resplendent in their academic attire, and pranced in the rain. They definitely made a feast of it.

And why not? Who’d begrudge them? For once people were bragging about real personal achievements, not about some dodgy deal or tender.

But, of course, nothing in this world is ever devoid of politics, not when politicians are involved. Unfavourable comparisons are obviously always bound to be drawn with the academic endeavours of the other parties, especially the ANC. Zuma doesn’t know what a certificate looks like.

Malema is living proof of the saying that he who laughs last, laughs the longest. Only a few years ago he was a butt of jokes when it was revealed he had scraped through matric, with a G symbol in woodworking and very low mark in Sepedi, his mother tongue.

That became an albatross which his enemies hung around his neck with some relish. Who, they calculated, would want to be led by someone who couldn’t cut it in woodworking? Gales of laughter at his expense must have been at full throttle.

But Malema didn’t sulk or hit back. He got down to work. To the surprise of friends and foes, last year he graduated with a bachelor’s degree and followed it up this year with an honours.

Of course people achieve even more spectacular academic qualifications every day without too much song and dance. They regard their achievements as personal milestones and leave it at that.

But politics and education in our history have not been the best of friends. Under apartheid, education was a tool to equip some and oppress others.

Now, instead of empowering people to thrive thanks to the opportunities and pleasures made available by the new dispensation, what is dished out as education is nothing but a poisonous concoction that is destroying dreams.

And so we have the irony of ironies: children of freedom who do not have the knowledge, skills or wherewithal to partake of its benefits.

So on top of what we delicately refer to as the victims of the injustices of our past, the new dispensation is creating its own casualties — those that democracy is leaving behind. These are the people who now form the EFF’s constituency.

If these people can see those they regard as their leaders not only preaching about education but making it part and parcel of their own lives, maybe they will do likewise; they too will seek to equip themselves so that they can take advantage of the opportunities that are available. They won’t be sitting around bewailing their lot and expecting things to be done for them.

The EFF is not everybody’s cup of tea. There are those who think that it is being deliberately provocative; that it should know better; and that it has dangerously lowered the standard of political decorum in and outside parliament.

Even those who agree with the party’s intentions, for example in keeping Zuma and the ANC on their toes, don’t always approve of its tactics. But the EFF represents a huge chunk of the underclass, those who feel they have nothing to lose should things go wrong in this country because they don’t think they have a stake in the system. Such people are easily swayed by pies in the sky.

Apart from corruption and the mismanagement of the economy, messing up the education system has been by far one of the ANC’s biggest debacles.

The effects of corruption and a failing economy can at least be rectified or remedied within a short time. The wreckage that is our education system has disfigured a generation that, unblemished by the effects of apartheid, had hoped for a better life. Instead, lives have been ruined — some permanently — and our society is the poorer for it.

It is therefore heartening when those in prominent positions like politicians take their own education seriously. This will hopefully ultimately reflect not only in the quality of debates but in the policies that they pursue, and, crucially, the attitude will rub off on their followers.

An educated and informed society is likely to produce sound and sensible leadership and therefore stands a better chance of being well governed.