The EFF did expertise a slight decline in its share of the vote, dropping from 10.8% to 9.52%. However this lower of 1.28% pales compared to the decline seen by the ANC. (Picture by Xabiso Mkhabela/Anadolu Company through Getty Photographs)
Within the Dan Corder Present aired on eNCA on 2 December, political commentator Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh was requested a sequence of questions on South African politics. One trade stood out, the place Corder requested Sizwe: “Is the EFF in a useless spiral?” He adopted this up with the assertion that “The EFF are the true victims of the MK celebration.”
First, Corder’s assertion that the Financial Freedom Fighters (EFF) is in a “useless spiral” is each unsubstantiated and deceptive. There is no such thing as a factual foundation for this assertion. Actually, the EFF has proven resilience in recent times, notably with their efficiency within the 2019 common elections when it garnered practically 10.8% of the nationwide vote, reflecting a progress of over 300,000 new votes, notably in KwaZulu-Natal. This surprising surge in assist in that province shocked the EFF. They usually have extensively mirrored on this, associating it with the disgruntled “radical financial transformation (RET) faction within the ANC.
Now, turning to the 2024 common elections, the narrative turns into much more muddled. The EFF did expertise a slight decline in its share of the vote, dropping from 10.8% to 9.52%. However this lower of 1.28% pales compared to the decline seen by the ANC. The ANC suffered a staggering drop of greater than 14%, from 57.50% in 2019 to simply 40.19% in 2024. How, then, can Corder declare that the EFF is the “true sufferer” of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) celebration when it’s the ANC that has skilled the much more important loss in assist?
Corder’s framing of the MK celebration’s affect additionally lacks crucial context. I acknowledge that its emergence did certainly have an effect on each the ANC and the EFF, with each events seeing a lower of their electoral assist. However it’s important to notice that the EFF’s decline is marginal compared to the ANC’s loss. This alone raises doubts about Corder’s declare that the EFF is the “true sufferer”.
As well as, the tensions between the EFF and the MK celebration stem extra from a private celebration dynamic than from any main electoral shifts, which is a real check for such a willpower. The battle largely traces again to Floyd Shivambu’s departure from the EFF, which created ideological and factional divides. There is no such thing as a substantial proof to recommend that the EFF, as a political celebration, has been devastated by the MK celebration’s emergence. To argue in any other case is baseless and speculative.
The ANC’s electoral collapse can’t be ignored, but there appears to be an ongoing effort to deflect consideration from this disaster by specializing in the EFF’s minor electoral setbacks. To what finish? one might ask. This narrative of the EFF’s alleged demise serves to masks the actual story — the ANC is in deep political turmoil, and its assist base has been severely eroded.
The portrayal of the EFF as a sinking ship whereas the ANC quietly faces its personal disaster displays a harmful distortion of the political actuality. As an alternative of confronting the ANC’s scenario, the main target has been positioned on a celebration that has confirmed its resilience and progress in recent times. This narrative is just not solely deceptive however serves to guard the ruling celebration from scrutiny, distracting the general public from the true state of South Africa’s political panorama.
Reasonably than perpetuating a deceptive narrative, you will need to face the reality: the EFF is just not dying, however the ANC’s political future is below risk. South Africans deserve an sincere and correct reflection of the political local weather, not the perpetuation of false narratives designed to guard these in energy.
Khothalang Moseli is a social and human rights activist writing in his particular person capability.