Nothing else but victory for EFF
POLLS: FREEDOM IS COMING TOMORROW, SAYS MALEMA
He accuses ANC of neglecting SA as he launches manifesto.
The leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Julius Malema, on Saturday accused the ANC of neglecting South Africa’s ills as he launched his party’s electoral campaign ahead of this year’s hotly contested elections.
Malema said through load shedding, President Cyril Ramaphosa “is continuing to kill our people”. He said this as he unveiled the party’s manifesto theme: “Our land and jobs now. Stop load shedding”.
He also accused the ANC of “economic apartheid” in a country plagued by an energy crisis, a lacklustre economy and high unemployment.
Some 27.5 million registered South Africans will go to the polls on a date to be set between May and August.
“We want political power to use it decisively,” said Malema.
He promised four million new jobs and an end to load shedding within six months of taking office.
The official opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA), is struggling to cast off its white, middle-class identity and win over black voters, but has refused to join forces with the EFF, citing stark differences.
Renowned for its theatrics, the EFF has gained prominence advocating radical reforms including land redistribution and nationalising key economic sectors to tackle deep inequalities that persist more than three decades after the end of apartheid.
“We are fighting an evil spirit of a white settler inside Ramaphosa,” he said of the president.
Describing itself as a “radical and militant economic emancipation movement”, the EFF draws inspiration from Marxism-Leninism and has displayed its support for Russia after it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The flags of the African Union and Cuba hung around the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban where the EFF was launching its manifesto on Saturday.
In recent years, support for the party has grown, largely among young, black South Africans angered by widespread poverty and unemployment.
Actively targeting universities and young voters, the EFF has won a string of student body votes in recent years, enlisting celebrities and influencers to spread its message.
Some polls show it battling with the DA for second place behind the ANC.
A recent Ipsos survey put the two parties tied at between 17% and 20%.
Independent political analyst Sandile Swana said: “Malema is popular because he has risen up as a person who openly challenges authority head-on for failing to liberate black people.”
The choice of Durban to launch the campaign was significant as it is South Africa’s second mostpopulous province and a key electoral battleground.
The ANC is set to launch its own manifesto at the same venue in two weeks’ time.
Malema founded the EFF in 2013 after he was thrown out of the ANC, where he served as youth leader, for fomenting divisions and bringing the party into disrepute.
Top MPs from the EFF were banned from the State of the Nation Address on Thursday after storming the stage where Ramaphosa was waiting to deliver the address last year.
In turn, the EFF boycotted the speech entirely.
The ANC risks losing its parliamentary majority for the first time, its reputation tainted by graft and mismanagement.
Several polls show that it could win as little as 40% of the national vote, which would force it to seek a coalition government to stay in power.
Malema said: “We are in the 2024 election for nothing else but to win.
“South Africa, your freedom is coming tomorrow.”
Despite the rainfall on Saturday, tens of thousands of EFF supporters sang and danced to the artists performing on stage in the 55 000-seat stadium after Malema gave his speech. –
We want political power to use it decisively