MK-EFF are a ‘match made in heaven’

The ANC could find itself out in the cold with no prominent partner to marry and help it return to power, even via the back door, should it lose its majority in May, says an expert.

Political analyst Professor Ntsikelelo Breakfast said even Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) might be unwilling to be courted because it is more attracted to Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.

Ideological partners

The two share more than tea-party gatherings, they are ideological partners.

Breakfast, who is director of the Centre for Security, Peace and Conflict Resolution at Nelson Mandela University, said the EFF, which the ANC might have hoped to partner up with, was more likely to align with its closest ideological ally.

The EFF was wary of waiting for an uncertain relationship with the ANC, whose senior members were largely opposed to forming ties with the red berets, he said.

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He suggested that without the EFF as a potential partner, the ANC would struggle to find a prominent partner among the other parties with which to form a post-election coalition.

Some within the ANC-led tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party believed the EFF was a better evil to partner, with should the ruling party fall below the 50%-plus-one threshold to retain power.

EFF-ANC ‘arranged marriage’ unlikely

But Breakfast said an “arranged marriage” between the EFF and the ANC was unlikely.

“I don’t see that happening because there is a critical voice against that argument within the ANC.

“ANC elders, such as party veterans [like Veterans’] League leader Dr Snuki Zikalala and a few others, have voiced total opposition to partnering with the EFF. They would rather have the DA [Democratic Alliance] on their side.”

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Like magnets, the EFF and MK shared common denominators, as advocates of radical economic transformation, the return of land to the black majority and the nationalisation of land and mineral resources, as advocated by the red berets.

“Whether they will make the threshold to form a government is another question, Breakfast said.

Future coalition partnerships likely to exclude MK and EFF

Another analyst, Prof Dirk Kotzé, said any future coalition partnerships in South Africa were likely to exclude MK and the EFF because of general ill-feeling towards them by all other parties. Together, the EFF and MK would perform below 20%, he predicted.

While the EFF and MK were close to each other ideologically, their relationship was frosty in KwaZulu-Natal, where they were polarised by the fact that they competed for the same voters.

According to Breakfast, another opposition coalition could emerge from parties subscribing to the Multi-Party Charter for South Africa (MPC), comprising the DA, Inkatha Freedom Party, Freedom Front Plus, ActionSA, Independent South African National Civic Organisation, United Independent Movement and Spectrum National Party.

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But the DA itself would struggle to get past 23% in the 29 May elections while the MPC was unlikely to reach 40%.

ANC should consider recruiting smaller opposition parties

Breakfast suggested if the ANC and EFF were unable to cooperate after the polls, the ANC should consider recruiting smaller opposition parties to form coalition with. However, he was pessimistic about a future coalition between the ANC and DA, as envisaged by Zikalala and others.

“I don’t know whether it’s possible for them to work with the DA and what would that mean.

“Zikalala did announce that was not a bad idea, but it’s going to be interesting if it happens.

“But the most important and the first thing that must come to the minds of our politicians is the national interest as opposed to partisanship,” Breakfast said.

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