The EFF in Gauteng says it is confident of its premier candidate Mbuyiseni Ndlozi. (Alfonso Nqunjana/News24)
- The EFF in Gauteng is confident of its prospects in Wednesday‘s general elections.
- Nkululeko Dunga says the party is confident of its premier candidate, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.
- He told News24 the party still maintained a cordial relationship with the ANC.
Icy relations between the ANC in Gauteng and its EFF counterpart would not have any bearing on coalition talks, which could start as soon as results were declared.
The EFF in Gauteng is still confident its premier candidate, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, and its elections campaign will at least see it overtake the DA and become the official opposition in the province.
The party denied its campaign leading up to Wednesday’s elections had been flat, and hinged on the youth vote.
EFF Gauteng chairperson Nkululeko Dunga told News24 there were no “personal feelings” between the two leadership groups.
According to Dunga, although the final call would be made by national leaders handling coalition matters, “the fact is that the ANC and the EFF have similar ideologies”, hinting at a possible coalition between the two in Gauteng.
The relationship between the ANC and EFF in the province has been fraught with tension for some time, with both parties frequently labelling each other as dishonest.
This animosity peaked when their members were involved in a physical altercation in Ekurhuleni.
Also, earlier this year, the two parties found themselves in a contentious situation during the State of the Province Address, where EFF MPLs allegedly disrupted proceedings.
The EFF and ANC are presently co-governing in Ekurhuleni and eThekwini, leading many to speculate a coalition between the two in Gauteng is inevitable.
In 2019, the EFF secured 634 387 votes or 14.69% support, while the ANC’s 2.1 million votes translated to 50.19%.
Both parties are confident they will see growth, with the ANC setting an ambitious target of 60%, and the EFF confident it can secure more than 20% of support to overtake the DA, which polled at 27.45% in 2019.
Pollsters have painted a completely different picture as the political landscape has shifted significantly with the proliferation of smaller parties.
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Dunga told News24:
I think the central command team of the EFF would use its wisdom in terms of which political party we would need to relate to. However, there are no significant material differences between ourselves and the ANC ideologically; we are referred to as far left at times as an organisation, by those who see fit to categorise us in terms of political ideology. But perhaps that is exactly what the country needs.
He said there had been moments when the ANC tended to lean on neoliberal politics to dilute the DA’s message, rendering it insignificant in the country’s politics.
“Perhaps that’s exactly what South Africa needs. It needs a radical voice that can come into the political orientation and the consciousness of the ruling elite, so that they find themselves leaning towards the far left as a policy position and perspective.”
Dunga added:
With that being said, there’s no animosity personally among leaders. It’s never personal; it’s always about politics, the advancement of the South African agenda, and trying to lift black people from the squalor that they find themselves in.
He said the EFF, however, could not disregard “a dysfunctional ANC has rendered all spheres of government extremely useless”.
“We can’t shy away from that because it’s an honest analysis, and we ought to be extremely honest for us to get to a table, sit down, and see how we correct what you have done.”
Dunga added that essential issues and fundamentals would be considered, including basic issues like water provision in Hammanskraal.
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The ANC and EFF have campaigned extensively in Hammanskraal, with both parties promising to resolve water provision issues in it once and for all.
“Are there fundamental disagreements between ourselves and you?
“If there aren’t, we have said that we are willing to give over that particular aspect of power to say we can negotiate and have an agreement, provided that in the immediate you are going to provide the people of Hammanskraal with water and allocate quality houses, collapse NSFAS so that you pay grants directly to universities and universities pay directly to students,” Dunga said, listing some of the party’s priorities detailed in its manifesto.
Other issues that he added were crucial to the EFF, in the event of any talks, included 24-hour clinics, removing Die Stem from the South African national anthem, land, nationalisation, establishing interlinking roads with Lesotho, and other issues that were “dear” to the party.
“These are conversations that are fundamental to the EFF that can be sanctioned – and, once it’s sanctioned, it is for the betterment of the people of South Africa and mainly Gauteng. Then, there is nothing that is stopping us from having that engagement, but that particular engagement is obviously confined to the central command team of the EFF.
“We are extremely confident that they will come up with a wise position as we move forward,” Dunga said.
Reflecting on the campaign, he added that the EFF had done everything possible to ensure success.
“We have done everything and anything humanely possible to engage voters because we had a targeted campaign that not only looks at youth, but also targets everyone registered to vote following our intensive programme to register people.”
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