By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) launched their Eastern Cape provincial manifesto at Buffalo City Stadium, in East London.
The launch was attended by EFF supporter King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo.
Party leader, Julius Malema, said the EFF was laying the ground for victory day when the EFF Eastern Cape will eject the government of Premier Oscar Mabuyane.
The EFF said the people of the Eastern Cape had come out in numbers to show support for the party and they would do so again on 29 May, the day of the national general elections.
“The people of the Eastern Cape have come in numbers to decisively confirm the electoral victory of the EFF on the 29th of May 2024,” the EFF said.
The party chairperson in the Eastern Cape, Zilindile Vena, said the youth are ready to take part in the province’s economy, but dwindling opportunities are a limiting factor.
Vena says if the party wins the majority votes in the province, it will unlock economic opportunities for the youth.
“Young people of the province are standing up and occupying their rightful places in the province. That is why all these people are here, they want jobs and land. And they want to end load shedding. Young people now are agitated, doctors are unemployed.”
The election is expected to be highly contested because the ruling African National Congress (ANC), which has governed the country since Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first democratically-elected leader in 1994, faces myriad challenges.
The EFF is popular among many disenchanted South Africans, especially youth, due to its radical policies that include the expropriation of white-owned land and the nationalization of mines and banks.
Malema, a controversial figure who largely divides opinion for his radical proposals to solve the country’s problems, continues to enjoy widening popularity in South Africa and increasingly across Africa.
A former ANC youth leader who was expelled from the party, Malema is now among the ruling party’s staunchest critics. He’s an outspoken lawmaker who has become a thorn in the side of the ANC and President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The EFF garnered 10% of the national vote in the country’s 2019 elections to become the third largest opposition party.
Buoyed by the decline in support for the ANC, which has governed South Africa since 1994, the party expects to increase its support in the upcoming elections.
Recent polls by polling firm Ipsos released estimated the EFF could perform better in the upcoming polls and replace the Democratic Alliance as the second biggest party in the country.
The same polls also suggest the ANC may dip under 50% of electoral support in what is expected to be the ruling party’s toughest elections yet.