The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) brought out their top guns in their efforts to win as many votes as possible in the Eastern Cape this week. In its first official public gathering in Grahamstown ahead of the local government elections, the party’s local supporters were greatly motivated by a visit from their national treasurer-general, Magdalene Moonsamy, at the Extension 6 Indoor Sports Centre yesterday.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) brought out their top guns in their efforts to win as many votes as possible in the Eastern Cape this week. In its first official public gathering in Grahamstown ahead of the local government elections, the party’s local supporters were greatly motivated by a visit from their national treasurer-general, Magdalene Moonsamy, at the Extension 6 Indoor Sports Centre yesterday.
EFF members from across the Sarah Baartman region converged on the venue to listen to Moonsamy, who throughout her talk urged party members to mobilise to ensure that they take over as many municipalities as possible in the region.
EFF Sarah Baartman region chair, Mzwandile Qotoyi, said they had convened many internal gatherings in Grahamstown ahead of yesterday’s public rally.
Just over a hundred supporters pitched up for the event on Thursday, but Moonsamy took full advantage of the opportunity and urged the audience to speak out against what she described as an ANC-orchestrated colonial system.
Moonsamy told supporters that the EFF was born to liberate South Africans from a new colonial system led by the ANC. She urged the party’s local supporters to mobilise for strength in numbers to beat the ANC in the polls in August.
Responding to a question from an EFF councillor from Koukamma, Moonsamy said the ANC had ruined its relationship with ordinary people and relied only on blocking opposition parties.
“The ANC has no people on the ground. They ruined that. All they will do now is try to block us from hosting events.
“The ANC has given us a fraudulent democracy in which there is no freedom,” she said.
Moonsamy said throughout their visit to Makana and Sarah Baartman they had noted serious water and service delivery challenges. Referring to the Kabuso report, Moonsamy said the local municipality was being run by corrupt officials, who are accused of selling houses and being involved in corruption and maladministration.
“Being under administration [Section 139 (1)(b) of the Constitution) is a very serious insult. It means you cannot lead even your own people,” she said.
Moonsamy said the ANC had failed to empower the people of Makana, accusing it of restricting people to cleaning roads.
“The EPWP [Extended Public Works Programme] is the only thing that the people of Makana know. Is that the only thing that the ANC is capable of?”
Moonsamy promised the audience better leadership under the EFF, which would be both politically and economically empowered.
“One of the key responsibilities of EFF candidates is that they must be available to the community 24/7 and be hard working. If they are unable to do their jobs, they must hand over to someone else,” she said.
Members who came from Rhodes University asked the leadership to speak about the formation of a student command at the university.
They also urged the leadership to be prepared to stand behind them in their calls to do away with things like
outsourcing.
Local EFF member William Selapa assured the party's leadership that they had their full support, saying that they must rest assured that they are not ashamed of being members of the EFF.
Selapa said land is a key issue in the EFF’s policy, adding that black people keep being pushed further and further away from town.
“They are pushing us away from the resources. Why are they pushing us away to the dry side? The ANC government doesn’t know what to do with us. They think we are only good for cleaning roads.”
After the meeting the party had planned to do door-to-door visits in Ward 5 and move on to campaign in Koukamma.
anele@grocotts.co.za
