SIMBA RUSHWAYA
JOHANNESBURG – THE numbers, as the old adage goes, do not lie. This is the warning, triggered by the high attendance of the radical opposition Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF’s) manifesto launch, analysts have given the ruling African National Congress (ANC) ahead of the August 3 elections.
The country’s main opposition parties have launched their manifestos with EFF the latest to launch in front of a bumper crowd at the 40 000-seater Orlando Stadium in Soweto, south of Johannesburg.
On the contrary, the ANC, which launched Malema into mainstream politics only to sack him in 2012 over disciplinary issues, launched its programme at the 46 000-seater Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth amid a disappointing attendance.
Less than half the 100 000 ANC expected turned up, ranking as one of the party’s lowest attended manifesto launches. Meanwhile, in late April, the official opposition Democratic Alliance also could not fill the 13 500-seater Rand Stadium in Johannesburg.
It had been expecting a 20 000-strong crowd. Following the attendance patterns, political analysts have cautioned particularly the ANC against taking the EFF, which will be contesting in its first local government elections, for granted. Johannesburg – based political commentator, Ralph Mathekga, observes that it was “arrogant” for ANC to ignore the impact EFF’s particularly on the youths and the unemployed.
“From the beginning, I said ANC were blundering and are in tatters in as far as addressing the concerns of the people were concerned. The fact that the tide is going against President Zuma does not favour the ruling party,” says Mathekga.
“You really have to give to the EFF the respect because they are capturing the imagination of the young and unemployed people in South Africa. ANC has to take them seriously because they have to. Judging by the numbers that were at Orlando Stadium, ANC have lost the votes, but it remains to be seen if these people will vote because people don’t vote in their numbers,” Mathekga however added.
University of South Africa lecturer, Everisto Benyera, says “Indeed those numbers ( at Orlando Stadium) sent the correct signal to anyone who cares to be concerned. Each and every misfiring on the part of the ANC is a possible gain for the EFF. Of course the direct casualty is difficult to prove in politics.”
“What is undeniable is the current position of the ANC following the pressure in President Zuma. The party is between a rock and a hard place. They expelled Malema and several of his ANC Youth League comrades and the EFF was born (in 2013). This precedence paints Zuma as untouchable,” adds Benyera.
He says the ANC has two options to save the party and risk destroying the country or save the country and risk destroying the party- and the EFF was a major beneficiary to that dilemma.
“With a lot of political rhetoric and unconventional politicking, the EFF appears to be managing to appeal to the hearts of the disgruntled, e specially the unemployed and the unemployable youths. In the final analysis, only tallied ballots will reveal the political strength of the EFF,” says Benyera.
The ruling party spokesperson for Tshwane, Thebogo Joala, poured cold water on political scientists’ views. “We are not focusing our energies on what other party are doing and saying. Our preoccupation is to focus on resolving issues that are inflicting our people now and ensure we retain or increase our votes inthe forthcoming elections,” says Joala.
“We have seen political parties come and go and we are hearing rhetoric and empty promises from all over the place. We are a liberation movement and a political party hard at work changing the lives of the people on daily basis. We are not entertaining any narrow populists that are aimed at playing with the emotions of the people,” says Joala.
At a veiled reference to Malema and EFF, Zuma, speaking at a May Day rally at Moretele Park, urged voters to distinguish between “sheep and wolves.”
“Many revolutions were taken over by opportunists; by people who began to give a different interpretation of the revolution,” said Zuma.
–Guardian
