Julius Malema said recently that the Marikana massacre was synonymous with the birth of the EFF, and that many more people will die in the fight for economic freedom. Unfortunately, these statements by him are correct, but not for the reasons he cited.

The workforce of the once prosperous Lonmin Platinum shrank by 6 000 employees in the three years following these events, while the postponement of planned expansions prevented the creation of an additional 6 000 jobs. As a result, a total of around 12 000 jobs were lost.

The average mineworker supports ten dependants, which means at least 120 000 people’s lives and livelihoods have been affected by the violent strike and shooting. A further consequence is that the economy of the Rustenburg area has been crippled, with the accompanying social decline and an increase in crime. But that is not all. At the same time, the mining group’s forced cuts led to the closure of the Marikana College.

The aftermath of the violent strike is indicative of the consequences of the EFF’s policy in many parts of the world. In Malema's own words, this policy is “revolutionary, radical left and anti-capitalist”, with the EFF fighting for “economic freedom in our lifetime”. A deeper analysis of this policy is needed, because it is also inherent in the ANC's “national democratic revolution” – albeit expressed in a softer idiom.

Poverty

Pursuing the upliftment of the country’s poor masses is legitimate and very necessary. However, it is important that the policy that is followed must take the economic realities fully into account so that the tragic mistakes of so many failed historical experiments are not repeated.

The first reality is that for centuries, humanity’s default state had been extreme poverty. Therefore, political leaders should study the reasons for prosperity rather than the causes of poverty. These reasons for prosperity lie in the opposite direction from the road into the political and economic desert that the EFF is indicating for its supporters. Politicians who blame “the rich” for people’s poverty do not ask, “What did we do wrong and what should be the right thing to do now?” They ask, “Who did this to us and what should we do to them now?” That is why Socialism has always led to greater poverty and oppression, costing millions of lives and livelihoods. Let’s never forget the words of Judge Jan Steyn in this regard: “It is naive to believe that one can adopt the basic economic tenets of socialism, without also inheriting its authoritarian political structures and limitations of personal freedom. There is ample evidence to substantiate the argument that there is a real and unbreakable connection between economic and political freedom, both of which may be lost if the state unduly expands its role in society’.

In practice, radical leaders enrich themselves in the name of the poor masses in whose interests they pretend to act.

Economic freedom

Real and sustainable economic freedom is the freedom to produce, and not, as Malema thinks, the freedom to consume what others produce. In real life, any group’s share in the economy is determined by their contribution to the economy. Therefore, the key to solving poverty lies in helping people to improve their productive contribution through good education and training, and not merely in trying to increase their consumption through strikes. A large group of Lonmin workers had been on strike for months to get “double digit” wage increases. In the process, the college that would have helped these workers to quadruple their salaries had to close. That would have been about 400% more than they could have hoped to achieve with a strike. Economic prosperity requires freedom workers, not freedom fighters.

The purpose of an economy is to raise the standard of living of the population. The wellbeing of a country is determined by the wellbeing of its workforce. A country needs a very productive, highly educated and well-paid workforce, where on average the per capita production is higher than the per capita consumption.

Promises

Political parties such as the EFF try to solve their political problems of gaining more support, by making empty promises that worsen their supporters’ economic problems. It is easier to canvass voters if you promise them they only have to vote for a better life rather than work for one. One of the biggest reasons for South Africa’s crises is that politics made promises that the economy cannot fulfill. Political freedom must be used to achieve economic freedom by oneself; it cannot be given to someone.

Leftist parties’ view of equality lies at the root of their failures. Equality is not seen as an equal start but as reaching the winning post at the same time. In other words, they do not see equality as equal opportunities, but as equal outcomes. Any form of inequality is therefore not attributed to the consequences of unequal education, training, entrepreneurship, productivity or talent, but as injustice. Therefore, they do not see the solution in better education or working harder, but in forced redistribution by the state. This means taking from productive people and publicly distributing it among party supporters as if it belongs to the politician. These politicians seem to believe that wealth exists by itself, and that the only interesting question is how and by whom it can be redistributed. They do not understand the production side of the economy, because they have never worked on that side.

Redistribute

Leftists do not primarily want to eliminate poverty by means of higher productivity and economic growth. Instead of reducing poverty, they want to reduce inequality by means of dispossession and redistribution with laws or might. A state that has the power to “give” everything to everyone also has the power to take everything from everyone. That is why Socialism cannot be introduced without oppression. The solution is much rather to make the poor richer through higher production, than to make “the rich” poorer through harsh redistribution.

They also do not understand that the state is much more a “housekeeper” than a “breadwinner”. The state must keep the national “household” safe and functioning instead of trying to take care of everyone with unsustainable levels of welfare and “free” services. History has proven time and again that the private sector is the “locomotive” of the economy, and that the state should only take care of the “train tracks”.

The end result of the path radical leftists have chosen for countries is that the UN and successful countries must save masses of people from starvation by means of development aid. Furthermore, it is not sustainable because development aid mostly entails taking from poor people in rich countries to give to rich people in poor countries.

Japanese Restoration

The good news is that real economic freedom is possible in one lifetime. Within one generation, the Japanese Restoration of 1868 transformed the country from a feudal system into a modern nation. Their motto was “Western science, Japanese culture”. The building blocks of Japan’s success were effective governance, a strong work ethic, self-discipline, healthy families, good education and a profound sense of responsibility. The Japanese Restoration was a miracle, unlike the numerous left-wing revolutions that were failures worldwide.

In winning countries the economy determines politics, while in countries such as South Africa, politics determines the economy. A policy is not measured by its intentions; it is measured by its outcomes. The outcome of three decades of the ANC government proves their transformation policy to be a major failure. More of the same is just going to bring more of the same outcomes. That is why the EFF will have more success if they instead support the reasons for prosperity, such as healthy families, good schools and promoting the economic freedom of all to produce, regardless of their race or class.