Economic Freedom Fighters

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)
Chairperson	Dali Mpofu
Secretary-General	Godrich Gardee
Spokesperson	Mbuyiseni Ndlozi
President & Commander in Chief	Julius Malema
Deputy President	Floyd Shivambu
Founder	Julius Malema
Founded	26 July 2013 (2013-07-26)
Headquarters	Johannesburg
Student wing	Economic Freedom Fighters Students' Command (EFFSC)
Membership  (2014)	527,343[1]
Ideology	Marxism–Leninism[2][3] Anti-capitalism[4][5] Anti-imperialism[4][5] Left-wing populism[6] Pan-Africanism Sankarism Fanonianism
Political position	Far-left[7][8]
Colours	Red[4][5][6]
Slogan	"People’s Power for Economic Freedom in Our Lifetime"
National Assembly	25 / 400
National Council of Provinces	7 / 90
Website
http://www.effonline.org
Politics of South Africa Political parties Elections

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African revolutionary socialist^[9] political party started by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) President Julius Malema, and his allies, in 2013.^[10] Malema is President of the EFF, heading the Central Command Team which serves as the central structure of the party.^[11]

It is currently the third-largest party in both houses of the South African parliament, receiving 1,169,259 votes and a 6.35% share of the vote in the 2014 general election. By December 2014, the EFF claimed to have over half a million members, although this has not been independently verified.

History

At a 28 July 2013 press briefing in Soweto, Malema announced that the new party had over 1000 members, double the 500 required for registration with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).^[12] The EFF is now registered with the IEC, after an objection to its registration by the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) was dismissed in September 2013.^[13]

Splinters and infighting

In 2015, the EFF suspended MP Lucky Twala and expelled three MPs, Mpho Ramakatsa, Andile Mngxitama and Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalala.^[14] Mngxitama formed his own party, named Black First Land First (BLF), while Litchfield-Tshabalala joined the United Democratic Movement.

Policies

A small march by the EFF on Mandela Day (18 July) 2014 near the parliament building in Cape Town protesting in support of land reform in South Africa.

The EFF "draws inspiration from the broad Marxist–Leninist tradition and Fanonian schools of thought in their analyses of the state, imperialism, culture and class contradictions in every society", according to one of its declarations.^[15]

It criticises the African National Congress and their primary opposition, the Democratic Alliance, for their allegedly pro-business stances, which it claims have sold out the black people of South Africa to capitalism as cheap labour. It promises to tackle corruption, provide quality social housing, and provide free primary healthcare and education for all, as well as proposing to expropriate "stolen land", nationalise the mining and banking sectors, double welfare grants and the minimum wage, and end the proposed toll system for highways.^[16]

The EFF takes significant inspiration from Sankara in terms of both style and ideology.^[17] In a May 2014 column, the prominent EFF member Jackie Shandu declared his party a "proudly Sankarist formation".^[18]

The EFF has been vocal in its criticism of black business owners and black owners of mining companies in South Africa. In an address at the Oxford Union in November 2015, Malema spoke out against billionaire mining company owner Patrice Motsepe.^[19][20] Further protests in 2015, the EFF delivered demands that included the socialization of the mining sector and called for more explicit targets for the 26% BEE ownership required by law.^[21]

Malema addressed a crowd in Marikana, Rustenburg in the platinum mining area, blaming mining companies and calling out platinum mining company Lonmin in particular, for poverty in the region.^[22]

In 2016, after local elections in South Africa, the EFF has suggested that they will back the Democratic Alliance in hung-metro areas, but would not be entering into a coalition with any political party in South Africa.^[23]

High-profile members

High profile members of the Central Command Team include Floyd Shivambu, Fana Mokoena and Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (National Spokesperson).^[24] Controversial businessman Kenny Kunene joined the Central Command Team in July 2013 before resigning from the Central Command Team on 20 August 2013 and from the organisation on 26 August 2013.^[25][26] On 4 November 2013, it was announced that Dali Mpofu had left the African National Congress (ANC) after 33 years of membership and joined the EFF.^[27]

Support base

According to a dated November 2013 Ipsos survey, the party's supporters are younger than average, with 49% being younger than 24, overwhelmingly black (99%) and mostly male, with women representing only 33% of the support base. A disproportionate number of supporters live in Malema's home province of Limpopo (28%), while only 1% live in KwaZulu-Natal, a more populous province.^[28]

The party was expected to make an impact in the 2014 general election, taking between 4 per cent and 8 per cent of the national vote. This was potentially enough for the party to hold the balance of power in provinces where the governing African National Congress was in danger of losing its absolute majority.^[16] In fact, the ANC retained its absolute majority, but the EFF moved into third place, surging past the shrinking Inkatha Freedom Party, with a 6.35% share of the vote to the IFP's 2.40%.

Election results

National elections

National Assembly

Election	Total votes	Share of vote	Seats	+/–	Government
2014[29]	1,169,259	6.35	25 / 400	25	in opposition

National Council of Provinces

Election	Total # of seats won	+/–
2014	7 / 90	7

Municipal elections

Provincial elections

Achievements

On 6 August 2015 the EFF announced that it has secured a Constitutional court case for its Jacob Zuma campaign of #PayBackTheMoney. The case was heard on the 9 February 2016. The Judgement was released by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng. The judgement stated that The President has violated the constitution of the country together with the parliament speaker Baleka Mbete. The President was given 60 days to fulfil the requirements of the Public Protector Thuli Madonsela ^[31]

Criticism

The ANC has accused the Zimbabwean ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF), of supporting the EFF so as to destabilise the ANC.^[32]

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa has levelled a number of criticisms at the party including what the union has described as "Julius Malema's history as a tenderpreneur" and the party's "military command structure".^[33] There has also been a feminist critique of the party's militarism,^[34] as well as allegations of misogyny from leading members of the party.^{[35][36][37][38]}

Vusi Khoza, the party's candidate for Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, has a criminal conviction for his involvement in what was believed to be a xenophobic attack on foreigners at Albert Park, Durban in December 2009.^[39]

It has been argued, by journalist Jane Duncan of the South African Civil Society Information Service, that the party's documents "reproduce racial stereotypes".^[40]

In mid-June 2016 a group calling themselves "Anonymous Africa", claiming to be associated with the hacktivist group Anonymous, perpetrated a DDS attack on the EFF's website stating the reason for the attack was the party's “nationalist socialist rhetoric and politicising racism.”^[41]

See also

• Namibian Economic Freedom Fighters
• Workers and Socialist Party

References

Further reading

• van Onselen, Gareth (29 July 2013). "Malema steals young communists' thunder". Business Day. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2014. 
• Pillay, Verashni (21 February 2014). "EFF: You want land, a loan? You got it". Mail & Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2014. 
• Julius Malema (preface), EFF 2014 Elections Manifesto, Economic Freedom Fighters.

External links

• Official website
• Old official website
• Supporter website