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By Kekeletso Nakeli

Columnist


Is EFF’s gay pride real?

If the EFF’s stance on the anti-homosexual Bill passed in Uganda is a politicking tool, it would be a shame.


The right to a freedom of choice in sexual orientation comes under the spotlight yet again in Africa.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has added their voice. They are in opposition to the new laws that infringe on the freedom to choose.

Many see the EFF’s voice and march, all with a flag to match, as politicking. This then brings us to the topic of politicking, assuming this may very well be a publicity stunt. The EFF categorised themselves as the disruptors of South African politics.

ALSO READ: Juju the ally: Malema and EFF come to defence of Uganda’s LGBTQI+ community

They refused to allow for the status quo in the National Assembly and we almost did not recognise the conduct that had come into becoming as the new normal. This is the confrontational politics that we have come to know.

In some instances, the party fights on behalf of the worker, taking on “capital” in the exploitation of society’s most vulnerable. The ones we know as the voiceless, finding their voices and courage knowing that the EFF stood with them and for them.

The EFF remained a party for the people, though their leaders are so removed from the masses in their expensive attire and their homes of sheer opulence, but they were the slogan of “black child, it is possible”.

Traction was gaining its footing, changing the landscape of South African politics and without question and doubt, political power was slowly shifting.

ALSO READ: ‘Rooted in hate’: EFF slams Uganda’s ‘draconian’ anti-homosexuality bill

Slowly, the ANC was losing ground. The ANC, the definition of what we have come to know as ageing politics.

A remembrance of the status quo, the promises of a better life for all, that over the years have benefitted a selected few and created tenderpreneurs whose pockets were lined by the state’s purse. The ANC carried the dreams, dashing them simultaneously.

The EFF seemed to bear the responsibility to cross us over into the Promised Land. And if the EFF’s stance on the anti-homosexual Bill passed in Uganda is a politicking tool, it would be a shame. Like them or not, these are people.

In their orientation, they have already gone through heaps of effort to be who they simply choose to be, let this not be a tool used to manipulate.

READ MORE: Uganda’s anti-LGBTQ+ law sparks outrage

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