OPINION: In the main, the EFF has been on an upward trajectory. The results of local government elections and student leaders at tertiary institutions show that the party is growing, writes Professor Bheki Mngomezulu.
By Professor Bheki Mngomezulu
ON JULY 26, 2013, the EFF was founded as the new political party in South Africa. This happened at a time when the country was preparing for the 2014 general election.
At the conclusion of that election, the EFF pocketed 25 seats in the National Assembly – coming third after the ANC, which obtained 249 seats, and the DA, which obtained 89 seats.
Noticeably, the EFF was able to do better than some of the older political parties such as Cope, which had been formed in 2008 by disgruntled ANC members following the ousting of former president Thabo Mbeki, the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) and the UDM.
By the 2019 general election, the EFF had grown significantly in terms of support. It kept its third place, but with an increased number of seats in the National Assembly.
From the 25 seats it had obtained, the party was able to increase this number to 44. This happened while the ANC had its number reduced from 249 to 230.
The DA also saw its number of seats being reduced from 89 to 84.
In the main, the EFF has been on an upward trajectory. The results of local government elections and student leadership at tertiary institutions show that the party is growing.
When the EFF announced its arrival in the National Assembly, it portrayed itself as a radical organisation. Disturbing parliamentary proceedings and raising endless points of order became some of its signature activities. Over time, this appears to have been replaced by thorough preparation for every motion or bill. It cites specific sections in the Constitution and relevant rules from the parliamentary Rules Book. This should be commendable.
From its formation, the EFF was on the side of the oppressed. Even the party’s name was meant to send out a message that it wanted to fight for the economic emancipation of the South African masses who were denied this by the white apartheid minority government. The fact that the party was formed soon after the Marikana massacre attests to this claim. It did not come as a surprise that the EFF held its penultimate event in Marikana before the main event at FNB Stadium.
However, this positive picture does not mean that the party has not had its fair share of challenges.
First, there has been an issue about the party’s identity – what it stands for. In this regard, some have defined the EFF as a left-wing to far-left pan-Africanist and Marxist-Leninist political party. If this tag has any authenticity, it means that the EFF needs to project itself in such a manner that everyone knows what kind of a party it is and what is it that it stands for.
This view is given credence by some of the inconsistencies that have been explicit in the activities of this organisation. For example, after the 2021 local government elections, the leadership of the EFF stated that they would even vote for a ghost rather than work with the ANC. In no time, they announced that they would be working with the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Similarly, the EFF once made it clear that it did not want to have anything to do with the DA. Later, it voted with the DA in several municipalities under the guise that it was not supporting the DA, but fighting against the ANC.
They also cut ties with the IFP. Such tendencies dent the party’s political image and do not portray it as a political formation that can be trusted.
Another challenge which the EFF has been forced to deal with is the gap between the top leadership and lower structures. There have been instances when provincial, regional and local structures felt that they were being dictated to by the top leadership. The disbandment of the party’s leadership structures in KZN and the Eastern Cape were linked to this observation.
But the party’s top leadership cited lack of performance as the main reason for the disbandment.
The third issue has been the EFF’s contravention of South Africa’s foreign policy agenda. This issue came up when the party protested King Mswati’s handling of public protests in eSwatini. Also, the EFF’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine war was not in line with the government’s stance of being non-partisan. There have been other concerns of this nature at various moments.
The EFF’s decision to invite Professor Patrick Lumumba to speak at its 10th anniversary triggered protests at UCT. The argument was that Lumumba supported Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni’s anti-gay stance – something on which South Africa holds a different view.
None of these events nullify the fact that the EFF has grown as a party and has reasons to celebrate!
* Professor Bheki Mngomezulu is director of the Centre for the Advancement of Non-Racialism and Democracy at the Nelson Mandela University.
