EFF statement on the 2015 programme of action and the UK tour

3 December 2015

We are going to briefly reflect on the programme of the EFF that took place this year. We went to the National Peoples Assembly that took place last year 16-20 December 2014, in which for first time the leadership was elected for a five year term to implement programmes of the EFF.

Following the NPA, we had an induction workshop for all elected members in order to equip them with tools to implement programmes of the EFF. Then we went to launch the provincial structures of KwaZulu Natal and Eastern Cape as they had not been launched towards the First National Peoples Assembly. This means we now have presence in every ward across South Africa.

The EFF program of action as adopted in the EFF Plenum came out of the critiwu that we have seen revolutionary days being depoliticised. Thus, in the POA we repositioned these events to be commemorations and not celebrations so that they retain their political content. We organised lawyers lawyers summit to speak to the legal community about transformation. But also to ensure that there are progressive lawyers who are prepared to help with legate services in advancement of the struggle for economic emancipation.

Land Occupation Struggles and Meeting Slum Dwellers 

We have seen land occupation in many parts of South Africa initiated by the EFF following the April 6th program marking the arrival of Jan Van Reebeck in 1652. We forcefully allocated land to people before even before we are government. This allocation of land happened successfully some provinces particularly in the Free State. Through this land occupation struggle, we managed to give people a palce they can call home.

We have also introduced the idea of meeting the community of slum dwellers. This is important because none of the existing political formations in parliament have spoken for these communities or give them any attention. The EFF organised meetings to listen to them and inform our parliament inputs with their concerns.

Meeting Farm and Domestic Workers

We also introduced the concept of meeting farm workers and domestic workers who never get any attention from existing formations. In these meetings, the EFF set to listen to workers as they recounted their challenges and experiences which revealed by and large that many continue to be treated as sub-human. This is one of the reasons they EFF advocates strongly for the idea of a national minimum wage which must be passed by law.

Langa Day and June 16

We marked the commemorated of Sharpeville Day as part of our programmes in Langa Cape Town to revive the memory of the Langa massacre. Here, the EFF held the biggest event in memory of the people who were massacred fighting against pass laws. On June 16, we also organised the biggest youth day rally in the country in 2015. No other organisation managed to put young people in a stadium on the basis of a political message alone expect the EFF. The EFF June 16 Rally was held in Oscar Mpetha Stadium at the University of Limpopo, Turfloop Campus with no less than 30 000 people attending.

It is also in this Rally that we also launched the EFF Student Command. The EFFSC is already making miracles. It is winning SRC elections or coming second. Through it the EFF has introduced the culture of politics being fashionable amongst students. It is no doubt that the #FeesMustFall movement received credibility and legitimacy because of EFF. If the movement was only led by the ANC, it would not have happened in the large and mass scale we saw it in.

When people saw an EFF overall in the #FeesMustFall all people agreed that students have put aside their differences for a common cause. The #FeesMustFall Movement is inconceivable without the EFF.

Freedom Charter Rally and EFF Anniversary

It is no doubt that the Freedom Charter has now become fashionable because of the fact that the EFF has repositioned it to occupy the centre of public political discourse. The very formation of the EFF moved from the premise that the ANC leadership has abandoned the Freedom Charter, particularly the implementation of its economic clauses. At the heart of it all, it is a fact that the ANC compromised on the clauses that speak about the land nationalisation of mines.

If that is an insult then, let it be. Everything the EFF does is informed by the Freedom Charter. Historically, the reality is that the Freedom Charter was  itself a compromise document from the ANC YL program of 1949. Therefore, compromising the Freedom Charter in the negotiations leading to 1994 is itself a compromise. 

The EFF fetched the Freedom Charter from the dustbin, cleaned it up and organised a popular movement around its demands. The EFF is growing as an organisation and this is because of the economic vision it represents. This is attested by the success of our 2nd Anniversary celebrations in Rustenburg on 26 July 2015. The people of the Rustenburg came out in their numbers to celebrate the EFF, demonstrating that Rustenburg remains the home of the EFF. That is why you now see the the old guard going to Rustenburg to go celebrate their own anniversary.

Economic Freedom March

The last interaction was with the Economic Freedom march where close to 50,000 people came out in numbers to march for 27 kilometres for economic freedom. Some white liberal journalists say we had 5,000, some say 500. They can give it whatever number, the fact is that only the EFF can pull those numbers during a working day without shutting down any institution, particularly factories.

We are happy that our memorandum to JSE, Chamber of Mines and SA Reserve Bank is receiving attention. The Chamber of Mines has responded and wishes to meet with the leadership of the EFF. The JSE and SARB submitted our memorandum to individual companies and banks, respectively, as requested; and these individual institutions are beginning to respond directly to the EFF on how they are going to address our demands. There are banks which have set up high-level panels which are looking at how they must respond to EFF demands.

The EFF UK Tour

The EFF went to the UK to deal on an invitation by the Oxford Union. When we accepted the invitation from the Oxford Union, we receive more invites from people who wanted to talk to us. We spoke to Chatham House, Africa Invest, Pan African Congress Movement (PACM), students and academics. We spoke about how the economy must be transformed in an environment where free market is the order of the day.

We met some companies in London and they all agree that workers must get shares in their companies. They don't agree with BEE witch enriches few politically connected individuals. The EFF leadership is pleased with the fact that even powerful companies which had previously been very arrogant and only preferred communication with the government, are beginning to seek an audience with the EFF as they acknowledged that the EFF is a government-in-waiting.

The message to the investment community was that when the EFF takes power, those that wish to invest in South Africa will do so according to our terms. 

Occupation of ABSA branches nationally

The EFF has established a special team that is working on the occupation of ABSA branches across the country. ABSA is specifically targeted because of its historical connection with the Broederbond. The occupation of ABSA branches will begin in 2016 on a date not to be disclosed. The CIC Julius Malema will personally be leading the occupation. The EFF is specifically targeting white monopoly capital institutions that have enjoyed protection of government. When people are marching against white monopoly capital, government has always demonstrated its willingness to use violence to defend their interests. The EFF with the occupation of ABSA branches is taking the fight to white capital. It is a struggle that is unstoppable. The EFF will not rest until the inequality gap is closed and wealth is shared among the people of this country. Many other institutions will be identified for occupation following the the occupation of ABSA.

EFF Parliament work during 2015

Parliament during 2015 had been very busy. The arrival of the EFF in Parliament ensured that the executive is held accountable and takes parliament seriously.  Parliament in 2015 started with a confrontation during the State of the Nation Address because President Zuma had since 2014 gone into hiding and avoiding parliament and government didn’t want to be accountable. The EFF disrupted SONA not because of our dislike of SONA but because it was the only occasion at which the EFF could ask Zuma the #PayBackTheMoney question.

It was unfortunate that Parliament instead of holding the executive accountable, decided to hire bouncers to defend President Zuma from a question with violence. EFF MPs were manhandled and females assaulted in violation of the Constitution that explicitly guarantees freedom of speech and states that no member of parliament can be arrested or sued for things they say in Parliament.

The ANC had for the first time in 20 years of power been confronted with real opposition since the arrival of the EFF in Parliament. In an attempt to contain the EFF, the ANC resorted to amending rules of parliament at every turn and many of these rule amendment, such as calling dishonourable members “honourable”, were defeated. The ANC specifically hired bouncers in order to introduce a climate of fear and intimidation in Parliament. This is because the ANC does not know how to deal with real opposition, that is the EFF.

Part of work the EFF did in Parliament was to introduce a motion on the minimum wage. The EFF further rejected all budgets tabled in the national assembly, except the budget for the Office of the Chief Justice. The EFF tabled declaration on each and every budget that was presented in the national assembly and ensured that Parliament worked until late until 23h00. Gone are the days when Members of Parliament 

The EFF also rejected the appointment of Vuma Mashinini as head of the IEC.  We rejected the appointment because Mashinini is Zuma’s friend. The purpose of this appointment is for the ANC to continue rigging elections as confirmed by the Constitutional Court in the Tlokwe case. It is not the first incident by the ANC rigging elections as it has happened during the 2014 general elections in Alexandra, where government sent the army to quell violence.

Local Government Elections 2016

The EFF is working to ensure that every ward across the country has at least 8 party agents to make sure that the ANC and the IEC do not steal votes, as they have done in the past. The EFF has invested in ensuring that there are party agents in every voting station, including Orania. We’re dealing with thugs and we cannot leave anything to chance. The ANC has aware that it is in big trouble come 2016 local government elections. They are going to lose all the Metropolitan municipalities. 

The Mandela legacy 

The ANC leadership collective led by President Nelson Mandela abandoned and betrayed the values and commitment of the Freedom Charter, particularly the clause that says, 'mineral wealth beneath the soil, the banks and monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownership of people as a whole". This is despite the fact that in the immediate aftermath of his release from prison and in the letters and communiques he issued just before release from prison, President Mandela had committed to Nationalisation of Mines. The CiC's emphasised that nevertheless said that President Mandela was too old and tired to take the struggle to its logical conclusion and handed the baton to coming generations.

Issued by Mbuyiseni Quintin Ndlozi, National spokesperson, EFF, 3 December 2015