By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Zenani Mandela-Dlamini cuts a cake with Julius Malema at the launch of the EFF’s local government election manifesto alongside Floyd Shivambu, Veronica Mente and Omphile Maotwe | Picture: EFFSA.
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has told thousands of supporters that the ground was fertile for an EFF takeover as most South Africans had reached a point of frustration with the ANC.
“Our manifesto is based on many observations that we have made about the state of local government in South Africa,” Malema said to EFF supporters at Ghandi Square in Johannesburg.
This included people being landless, jobless, without access to water, sanitation, electricity or quality primary healthcare.
As a means of addressing the numerous challenges identified by the party, Malema said should the EFF be elected into office, it would ensure that “every EFF municipality will conduct [a] land audit of its municipal areas to determine true land ownership details of every piece of land in the municipality, ascertain current land use, and expropriate abandoned and unused land for redistribution to the landless”.
He also added that “every EFF municipality would formalise all informal settlements under its jurisdiction and ensure that these areas are provided with services and properly zoned to ensure that houses can be built in these areas in short to medium term”.
The party’s manifesto is based on seven pillars for economic freedom, Malema said.
These are the nationalisation of strategic economic sectors, without compensation, the expropriation of land without compensation, building state and government capacity, to abolish tenders, free and quality education, healthcare, houses and sanitation, protected industrial development to create sustainable jobs, developing the African economy, and fostering an accountable, corrupt-free government and society.
Read the full document here:2021 EFF Manifesto.
The EFF was formed in 2013, and describes itself as “an anti-imperialist and leftist movement with an internationalist outlook anchored by popular grassroots formations and struggles.”
The EFF also launched its new headquarters which have been named after the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
Her daughter Zenani Mandela-Dlamini was present at the launch and even joined the party’s leader in the ribbon-cutting.
The party declared her the first “woman president we never had” and promised to keep her legacy alive.
In its inaugural elections, the EFF garnered 8.2% of the vote and had since improved in the national elections in 2019, where the party received 10.80% of the vote.