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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 7 May 2019

South Africa's populist party takes aim at ruling ANC

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME sages about inequality in
Associated Press South Africa, especially in
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — the workplace. He works as
With revolutionary rheto- a waiter in a trendy down-
ric, bright red outfits and town district.
left-wing policies, the Eco- "White workers earn more
nomic Freedom Fighters than black workers even
have shaken up South Af- though we have the same
rica's political landscape, skills and do the same work,"
becoming a potent chal- Thobejane said. "Malema is
lenge to the ruling African not afraid to speak about
National Congress. such things, and that en-
Firebrand leader Julius courages me because he
Malema, 38, has a knack is the only politician who
for catching headlines and seems to understand our
appealing to South Africa's everyday struggles."
youth. Although the EFF Whites make up just under
has little chance of winning 10% of South Africa's popu-
power in the Wednesday lation but still hold much of
elections , the party's pop- the country's wealth, while
ulist stance has pulled the blacks make up nearly 80%
governing ANC to the left. of the population of 57 mil-
At his final rally Sunday, lion.
Malema said his party is de- Leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, Julius Malema, addresses supporters during Political analyst Ralph
manding a bigger share of an election rally at Orlando Stadium in Soweto, South Africa, Sunday, May 5, 2019. Mathekga, a researcher at
South Africa's wealth from Associated Press the University of the West-
the country's white minority. ern Cape's Center for Hu-
"White people, all we want their new party as the be- The EFF's militant, rebellious ic consequences of such manities Research, attrib-
is to join you at the dinner ginning of a realignment of stance in parliament and policies in countries like uted the EFF's popularity
table and eat with you," the country's politics. the courts is partly cred- Venezuela and Zimba- to the "drama and excite-
said Malema to thousands But eight months later, the ited with the removal from bwe, Malema's rhetoric has ment" it brings. He expects
of supporters in Soweto's EFF secured 6% of the vote office last year of former struck a chord with many the EFF to grow its electoral
Orlando Stadium. "If you do in the 2014 national elec- president Jacob Zuma af- black South Africans who support to at least 10% in
not want us to sit with you tions, making it the country's ter persistent allegations of remain poor 25 years after Wednesday's vote.
at the table, then we have third biggest political party corruption. the end of apartheid, the "They exposed South Afri-
no choice but to destroy with 29 representatives in Under Malema's charis- harsh system of racial dis- can politics as being very
the table." parliament. Two years later matic leadership, the EFF crimination. stale. Theirs is a mix of street,
It's a classic Malema quote, in municipal elections the is a divisive element with its Malema draws capac- populist and intellectual
dramatically vowing to EFF was central to ushering populist brand of politics. ity crowds when he speaks politics," Mathekga said.
threaten the existing order. in a new era of coalition Malema, a former ANC and many young South Af- "Their leaders are intellectu-
As South Africans prepare politics, exposing the ANC youth leader who was ex- ricans see him as represent- al, educated elites but they
to vote on Wednesday in as vulnerable after nearly pelled from the party for ing their struggles, while appeal to ordinary people
what is expected to be a a quarter-century in power. criticizing then-president those who do not subscribe because they bring drama
hotly contested national The EFF members wear red Jacob Zuma, has become to his brand of politics see and excitement."
election, the EFF is once workers' overalls in parlia- one of the most influential him as a radical who should The rise of the EFF, despite
again a potential game- ment, saying the outfits politicians among South Af- never come close to a po- being a leftist party, has
changer. Various polls in- show they represent the rica's restless youth. sition of power. similarities to the emer-
dicate the party may in- interests of South Africa's The EFF loudly promises that Thapelo Thobejane, a gence of right-wing move-
crease its share of the vote working class. With shout- if elected it will expropriate 31-year-old resident of the ments in parts of the world
to at least 12%, cutting fur- ing, singing and other dis- white-owned land without teeming Alexandra town- that have seen the elec-
ther into the ANC's support. ruptive antics, the EFF rep- compensation and nation- ship in Johannesburg, said tion of populist leaders like
When a group of rebellious resentatives have been alize South Africa's mines he supports the EFF and Donald Trump in the United
youths broke away from thrown out of parliament and banks. Malema because he can States and Jair Bolsonaro in
the ANC in 2013, few saw several times. Despite the dire econom- relate to the party's mes- Brazil.q