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EFF’s disruption theatre ‘works to keep them relevant, impresses supporters’
While the disruption plays to the EFF supporters, it equally alienates those who dislike this style of politics, says an analyst.
Opposition Economic Freedom Fighters party leader Julius Malema protest on stage as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa attempts to deliver his 2023 state-of-the-nation address (SONA) at the Cape Town City Hall in Cape Town on February 9, 2023.
Point of order, said Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema – and then the fight started.
After first quibbling with National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula that “Mr Ramaphosa” should sit down while he raised his point of order, Malema then said by Ramaphosa’s “taking parliament to court”, the joint rules of the house were being violated.
“By taking this parliament to court he has passed a motion of no confidence in this court,” Malema said.
“He can’t have his cake and eat it, because until the court has resolved the dispute between us as parliament and him he has no leg to stand before us as a legitimate body and address us,” he said.
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Mapisa-Nqakula denied his request to close the session, upon which EFF deputy Floyd Shivambu stood up.
It was, however, the African Transformation Movement’s Vuyolwethu Zungula who was escorted out first after failing to listen to the Speaker. More than 30 minutes after Ramaphosa was supposed to speak, Mapisa-Nqakula had the EFF thrown out, with the commensurate chaos.
Disruptive behaviour ticks EFF boxes
Political analysts Dr Daniel Silke and Prof Susan Booysen said it was not surprising that the EFF MPs disrupted Ramaphosa’s last night’s address to the nation, which focused on service delivery and government programme for the incoming financial year.
Disruptive behaviour ticked EFF boxes to its supporters who like what their leaders do, he said. The EFF used disruptive behaviour to attract attention to itself and raise its public profile among its supporters who like its aggressive political stance to force the government to account.
EFF leaders had been tweeting about their plan to disrupt Ramaphosa from delivering the address. Malema said they would ensure Ramaphosa was unable to address them because he was a “constitutional delinquent”.
Although the EFF accused Ramaphosa of wrongdoing in the Phala Phala burglary scandal, he had not been criminally charged, while various law-enforcement agencies were still probing the events that led to the theft of millions of cash in US dollars allegedly stashed inside a sofa at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo.
Also, the Section 89 panel report on the issue was rejected by parliament, which voted not to proceed to impeach Ramaphosa.
Silke said the “ritual of disruption is a strategy that the EFF chose as an opposition party to bring attention to itself.
“It’s a sign of the opposition to hold the government to account and to expose some weaknesses within the ANC, particularly on the personality level,” he said.
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“It is designed to weaken President Ramaphosa and, of course, the disruptions are intimidating themselves and the EFF is good at playing politics of intimidation.”
Most important, EFF supporters liked what their leaders do.
“The disruptions tick the box for the EFF supporters just as much as it propels those who dislike the EFF approach,” he said.
“The disruption plays a certain part in the EFF support base. There are elements who like more aggressive style of politics in the younger leadership. Also Malema does get a lot of media traction as a result of disruption, given that the EFF has become known as a party of disruption.”
‘Spotlight’
Whether the National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula took action to throw the EFF MPs out of the House for their misbehaviour and fine them was less important than the political mileage the young party received at such events.
“It ultimately plays to the supporters of the EFF in a way, but it equally alienates those who dislike this style of politics of the EFF,” Silke said.
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Booysen agreed with Silke, saying disruption helps to put the EFF on the spotlight.
“They get more TV exposure, disruption shows their presence in parliament and puts them on the big screen. It simultaneously helps them to expose and emphasis the weaknesses of the ANC,” Booysen said.
– Additional reporting by Amanda Watson
– ericn@citizen.co.za
