EFF leader Julius Malema.
- The EFF celebrated its seven anniversary on Sunday, and Julius Malema said they had proved their naysayers wrong.
- He said their elective conference in December was one of the most peaceful conferences ever in South Africa.
- Malema said the party is not in the pockets of any corporate interests, including cigarette companies.
As the EFF turned seven on Sunday, its leader Julius Malema celebrated that they have proved their naysayers wrong.
The party is a growing force on the continent, he said.
The EFF celebrated its seventh birthday with a broadcast of more than two hours on its social media platforms. It included a monologue from its “commander in chief” Malema, who was introduced by deputy leader Floyd Shivambu as one of the “great Pan-Africanists” – like Marcus Garvey, Haile Selassie and Kwame Nkrumah.
According to Malema, the EFF has become an “unstoppable force of change in Africa”.
He said the party stood stronger than ever before, despite critics who said it would not survive in the SA political landscape.
“Our movement is no longer a baby, but a force to be reckoned with that has shaped the politics of the country and the continent,” Malema said.
“There is no one that can deny that the young organisation represents the future and embodies superior logic.”
He described the EFF as an organisation of land invasions, student protest and agitation.
The EFF continues to lead the fight against racism in all its forms, and demands that the wealth of the economy be in the hands of the black majorityWhite-Monopoly Capital continues to be the primary enemy and we will fight it relentlessly#EFFTurns7 pic.twitter.com/xL162zZF4e
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) July 26, 2020
More than once, he called on the fighters to remain committed to the party’s “seven cardinal pillars”: Expropriation of land without compensation; nationalisation of mines, banks and other key sectors of the economy; building state and government capacity; free quality education, healthcare, houses, and sanitation; massive protected industrial development; massive investment in the development of the African economy; and open, accountable, corrupt-free government and society without fear of victimisation by state agencies.
“We want our land back; we want our economy back. We want to be allowed to decide the fate of Africa on our own terms without imperialist supervision,” he said.
He said the ANC – which he referred to as the “former liberation movement” – are bereft of imagination and are still as corrupt as ever.
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“Zuma was selling the country for a plate of curry and Ramaphosa is selling the country for a glass of wine from the Rupert family,” said Malema, who attended an EFF gala on the eve of the party’s manifesto launch in February last year, where Rupert and Rothschild wines were served.
He spent much time speaking about the EFF’s elective conference in December in Nasrec, Johannesburg, where he was re-elected unopposed.
“Many of those who thought the EFF would die a painful death at Nasrec have had to watch this glorious movement grow from strength to strength and continue to be the voice of the voiceless,” he said.
Powerful
“The EFF continued to have one of the most peaceful national conferences in the history of South Africa, where members contested each other freely,” he claimed.
At the time, there were reports that the election of the EFF’s top six leaders was marred by clashes between delegates and the EFF’s paramilitary security unit, known as the Defenders of the Revolution (DOR).
The former liberation movement has failed to use its political power to effect change in the country and continues to manage the affairs of white-monopoly Capital
Black people live without dignity and there is no coherent program of action from those in power#EFFTurns7 pic.twitter.com/JchjMALjAq
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) July 26, 2020
Several people were taken to hospital, including a pregnant woman.
“All the lies of the EFF being a dictatorship were exposed to be nothing, but the imagination of self-hating individuals who cannot accept that the EFF is an alternative that is here to stay,” Malema said.
“The EFF displayed the ultimate practice of democracy at a conference that was not tainted with money and buying of positions.
“The EFF and its leadership are not bought or sponsored,” Malema said.
Much later in his soliloquy, Malema again said they are not in the pockets of any corporate interests, specifically mentioning cigarette companies.
“You are not a fighter if you do not live among the poor masses of our people,” Malema said.
In 2018, it was reported that Malema and his family live in a home in Hyde Park, Johannesburg, owned by Adriano Mazzotti, who is a director of cigarette-manufacturing company Carnilinx.
