Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Focus on EFF’s ‘future babes’
THE EFF’s promise that its councillors will be available to communities 24 hours a day means some female candidates are now attracting unexpected suitors.
On Tuesday night, the EFF in Joburg posted pictures of its election candidates, together with their photos and cellphone numbers, on social media platforms.
Within hours some of the party’s female candidates had received a flurry of messages and requests – some of which had nothing to do with politics or service delivery needs.
Instead, some social media users were more interested in the women’s romantic availability and physical appearance, commenting on their pictures on Twitter.
The social media users commented on how “progressive” some candidates were and others were even willing to immediately go and join their wards in order to be closer to “the future babe”.
One Twitter user commented that he was moving to Diepkloof, Soweto, after seeing the picture of ward councillor candidate for the EFF Lulama Memela. Another user commented that the EFF’s “beauty department was progressive”.
Thuli Xaba, EFF candidate in ward 53 in Soweto, said some people had already taken advantage of her cell number and picture being made available online, calling her at midnight asking to join her ward.
“The calls I am receiving are really mixed. Some people are congratulating me and others are simply calling from as far as Limpopo to express interest and want to know where I live,” she said.
“I wasn’t aware that the party had already put up our numbers and I was quite surprised to receive the calls. I will probably have to get another number for personal use.”
Xaba said, however, she understood the imperative of the EFF’s policy in making its councillors available to communities.
The EFF said during its candidates list process it was looking for party members in good standing, who appealed to their community and were willing to work 24 hours a day. thabiso.thakali@inl.co.za