Malema’s political report at EFF elective conference criticised

The Commander in Chief (CIC) of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Julius Malema said the five years of leading the EFF had been a difficult journey that had both challenges and successes.

Malema said the party’s leadership was still confident that the organisation had been the champion of the dejected masses and that it had disrupted the fabric of the South African economy.

He was delivering a political report at the party’s second elective conference, which he said would assess whether they had been true to the ideas of the organisation.

“It is this People’s Assembly that will reflect on whether the ideas of the organisation were maintained through all subjective and objective challenges. These ideals are captured in our founding manifesto, and seven non-negotiable cardinal pillars of economic freedom. More importantly, this People’s Assembly is tasked with giving the organisation a renewed mandate for our future struggles for economic freedom,” Malema said.

He said the second national elective conference was tasked with developing a revolutionary road map and that the conference should elect competent leadership that would carry the revolution forward.

Malema spoke strongly about socialism as a way of ending the private ownership of the means of production.

However, Xubera Institute for Research and Development political analyst Benedict Xolani Dube criticised the report for lacking any practical solutions.

“The EFF is trying to find relevancy post-Zuma because there is nothing really outstanding and remarkable that we can say it makes the EFF to be relevant in the politics of South Africa. This report is just a contradiction of many things to try and sound radical. He spoke about socialism and how Cuba is using it but we all know that Cuba is no longer a socialist company. And if he is really a pan-Africanist he is supposed to be worried regarding the current state of Africa,” Dube said.

Malema also promised to persuade the conference to consider having a command wing that focuses on women.

“We are a country that treats women with disdain. A woman in South Africa is ultimately just a tool for men’s sexual satisfaction, a domestic slave who must raise children, often under completely exploitative conditions. We can indeed fix the criminal justice system to ensure that it punishes perpetrators of those horrific crimes,” Malema said.

Another independent political analyst, Sibusiso Ndlovu, said although the report represented the status quo of the middle class, it left those with economic interests wondering on the direction that the EFF was taking as the “government in waiting”.

“Free education sounds better in rhetoric; Malema doesn’t outline where the funding will come from, or outline a clear plan on the legal regulation on how the Reserve Bank will be run,” Ndlovu said.

He said although the report acknowledged that the EFF was growing, it failed to address how they were going to make sure that it was represented in the 24 municipalities where it was currently not represented.

“If the EFF want to stay long in politics they must consider reviewing their ideology.”

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