Julius Malema address to the 16th Central Command Team meeting
20 August 2022
Commissars and Fighters
We welcome you to this 1 6th Central Command Team Meeting, of the 2nd National People's Assembly, in the middle of great turmoil in our country.
Over the period under review, the political dynamics of South Africa have shifted extensively, and we find ourselves once again faced with the mammoth task of first and foremost, unseating the President of the Republic of South Africa.
This responsibility has come with different challenges to what we confronted, when we held Jacob Zuma accountable for his corruption. Unlike when we confronted Zuma, who was hated by the establishment, the EFF now stands opposed to a darling of Capital.
There is not a single broadcaster, print media, journalist, or analyst, that is willing to openly stand and confront Ramaphosa, because he is the chosen one by the funders of institutions in South Africa.
Billions have been invested in Ramaphosa to ensure that he becomes President, and such an investment will not be done away with easily, before imperialist and capitalist forces get their returns, which will mean the collapse and re-colonisation of our country.
Commissars, it is at this stage of the revolution, that the true essence and revolutionary character of the EFF is going to be tested.
It is no longer the phase where NGO's, iournalists, academics, politicians, and civil society will hold hands and march together.
The left is fractured, and the liberals and right-wingers want to create a situation whereby, the removal of Cyril Ramaphosa will mean the end of our democratic dispensation. An impression is being created in society that if Ramaphosa is removed from Office, it will mark the end of politics as we know it in this country.
This situation demands of us as Commissars, to be sharp in our messaging, and confident in our call. It means we must not hesitate to advance and defend the organisational position both in private and in public.
It means that we must have a cohesive and impactful propaganda machinery, which will shift the mindset of our people and explain to them why we have taken the position we have taken, even though it may not be popular.
We do not have the support of civil society and the media, which means that, we have reached a phase where we must be the vanguard we have always claimed to be.
It is now the phase where being a vanguard party is not only on paper, but in practice, and therefore it will require dependable Commissars, who can spread the message from the villages to television.
You must be resistant to insults, to smear campaigns and attacks that will come on the leadership, because the war has now arrived at the doorstep of our historic enemies. The fight will be bloody, and does not need cowards or people who are not capable of explaining complex problems to a deliberately demobilised society Commissars, when we leave here, we must know that our primary task is to remove Ramaphosa from Office, and finally delivering the final nail in the coffin of the ANC.
Amidst all of this degeneration in our society, we are tasked with a process of organisational growth, and this entails, the rebuilding of the organisation and a renewal of the mandate of the Provincial Structures of the EFF.
There are Commissars amongst us, who have served in the Provincial Structures, who must reflect on the path travelled thus far, and whether their contribution as co-ordinating structures known as Provincial Command Teams, has been meaningful.
Chairpersons and Secretaries must ask themselves honest questions, and give themselves honest answers, to ensure that they do not taint whatever their legacy may be in the EFF.
Nevertheless, we must extend our appreciation to these Commissars who hail from the 9-respective provinces of South Africa, for being part of the formative and elective stages of our movement. You were there for the National Elections of 2019, and Local Government Elections of 2021 , and no matter how small or large, you have contributed to the existence of the only hope for the destitute masses of our people.
Commissars, in the period under review, we must reaffirm that the I Million Membership Campaign remains the chief program of action towards building an army for Economic Liberation. Amongst us, however, are comrades who have not fully come to appreciate this campaign. Amongst us, are comrades who have cheated the process and failed to contribute meaningfully, in what will guarantee the liberation of our people.
We must address that, and educate our very own Commissars on the significance of the 1 Million Membership Campaign.
Much of what is troubling South Africa and the continent, is answered by this glorious movement of ours.
This involves the crippling poverty and unemployment, the immigration question, the question of continental unity, and the scourge of Gender Based Violence that is tantamount to war crimes against women and children.
The high levels of violent crime and murder, are issues which the EFF must take a firm stance on and establish a programmatic agenda to respond to. Failure to do this, will result in this movement of ours which claims to be grassroots, to exist above and out of touch with the masses of our people.
Our people are being failed by this government and are tired of living in fear, and thus the EFF must have a grassroots response to this, and this response must come from this collective of Commissars.
Failure to do so, will make us scared to visit our communities. It will be difficult to go and campaign in Krugersdorp, because you were not there when the 8-women were gang-raped. Not even one of you visited those families or offered those families aid.
It will be difficult to visit the communities of Mitchell's Plein, because as an organisation, we have made no intervention on the gangsterism that sees children die from stray bullets everyday.
The EFF will struggle to go and explain the position on Africa in the townships and squatter camps, because our position does not come with concrete legislative or practical steps to alleviate the competition for the informal economy and the social relations amongst our people.
So, Commissars, we are not here to iust hear reports and go home, this is not a meeting of compliance. We must come out of this meeting with practical steps to resolve the problems we have mentioned. Otherwise, this EFF will soon dwindle into insignificance.
On Prevailing Social and Political Conditions & Dialectical Materialism
Commissars, we must apply the laws of dialectical materialism, to grasp why South Africa is in the situation it is in, to appreciate why the EFF exists, and to diagnose the failures and contradictions in the ruling party.
It is the dialectical laws that will give us an upper hand, which will guide our tactical approach and ensure our total victory in the wars to come. It is through dialectical materialism that we will know what to communicate to our people, who the enemy Of our struggle is, and how to defeat such an enemy. Comrades, the law Of dialectics refers to the phenomena that historical and contemporary events arise from a conflict Of social forces or simply put, social phenomena are as a result of contradictions in society. It is progression through the conflict between opposing material forces.
So, what dialectical reality gives birth to the social and economic position African people find themselves in here in Africa?
It is the identify Of black and white, the class position of the worker and bourgeoisie, and this permanent struggle, is what has defined South Africa since the moment of colonial conquest.
As Marxist-Leninists, we must view our society through this historical war of opposites, locate ourselves as forces of the working class, and interpret the flaws of capitalism and communicate them efficiently to the masses of our people.
Firstly, you must appreciate the law Of opposites, which help you identify the enemy or the social problem we seek to resolve, be it internally or to diagnose the enemy.
You must then go deeper and read Chairman Mao Zedong on Contradictions and Antagonisms.
What is our relationship with the ruling party which is an instrument of the capitalist dialectic and opposed to our socialism as the EFF?
Why would we call the ANC an instrument and not an actor of the dialectic that we are opposed to?
Chairman Mao classifies antagonistic contradictions as irreconcilable, meaning that in the context of social sciences, one of the opposites on the end of a class dialectic must die.
A non-antagonistic contradiction however is not fundamental, meaning that relations are reconcilable, and disagreements are not fundamental.
As the EFF, a Pan-Africanist, Black conscious, socialist, and Marxist organisation, the antagonistic contradiction we are confronting is racial capitalism. It is represented by a white minority which has monopolised the land, banks, mines, and wealth of our country.
Our antagonistic contradiction is racism and capitalism, and as an organisation, we can never reconcile ourselves with these because we are fundamentally opposed to them. This is a contradiction, a conflict of opposites.
Our non-antagonistic contradictions, are with the none-whites, who are a shield to the system we seek to collapse. These are the ones who are used by capital, to suppress the will of the African maiority. (ANC, black regime iournalists, and black academics).
When we understand this, we will know how to approach the wars to come.
Once you understand dialectics, you will understand that Zuma was never a priority to the EFF, but a contradiction which was a shield to white supremacy and capitalism.
It is dialectics that will help you analyse what is happening with Phala Phala Farm, who stands to benefit, and who the motive forces behind the contradictions within the ANC are.
We base our existence on this scientific mode of analysis, and it will never fail us We are now waging a struggle to hold Cyril Ramaphosa accountable, and his allies within capital are making it as difficult as possible.
Our assessment in our engagements with opposition parties is that the so-called Official opposition is not willing to work on the removal of Cyril Ramaphosa, and it is precisely because they operate and work for the same class interests, and thus are reluctant to hold him accountable.
A question, Commissars must be able to reflect on is why the DA was able to call for a motion of no confidence in Ramaphosa's entire cabinet, yet is now unable to call for the very same motion on Ramaphosa?
The DA seeks to create a non-existent clash between the Section 89 process of impeachment into Ramaphosa and the motion of no confidence, in order to drag out the removal of Ramaphosa for as long as possible.
A President can be impeached even after he is removed from Office through a motion of no confidence. This is why these processes are separate but can compliment each other. The Official Opposition however, has a deliberate reluctance to pursue the motion Of no confidence because it compromises its class interests and allegiance to the agenda of the ruling elite.
We find ourselves Comrades, in an opportune position, where we can expose the DA for not being a genuine opposition party which fights against corruption, by pressing them to lead the process of removing Ramaphosa when we know that they represent the same class interests which we are opposed to That is the moment we find ourselves in, and it will require that faith is put in this leadership, faith that we will make the necessary tactical moves, make the necessary analysis, and act in the best interests of our people.
What we need from our Commissars as we begin this path, is a sharp understanding of the type of enemy we are facing and the level of propaganda they can initiate to delegitimise our fight against the establishment.
We are dealing with an individual Who has the capacity to kidnap people across borders, who has the capacity to torture people, conceal a crime, and manipulate state resources in order to hide his criminal activities.
Phala Phala represents the impunity with which the puppets of the establishment operate, which means the levels of criminality in South Africa may even be worse Therefore, Commissars when we say we use dialectics to conclude that the so-called RET faction has no knowledge of this entire Phala Phala saga, we do so conscious of the magnitude of the forces at play, and these are forces beyond the weak faction of the ANC.
There is an interest by Thabo Mbeki to return to power and this can be seen by who newly elected Provinces which are not aligned with Ramaphosa, go, and consult after their conferences.
It can be seen through his excessive involvement in the affairs of the ANC, after decades in the political wilderness
On State Owned Entities
Commissars, our position however, remains one of superior logic and this cannot be denied even by the greatest capitalists who the world over, have always appreciated the role of the State in development After all the local capitalists have lambasted State Owned Enterprises and advocated for privatisation, the biggest capitalist France, spent 10 billion pounds to fully nationalise the state power utility EDF.
We were told that SAA was not a viable airline under state control and as a result, it was sold for a mere R57. After SAA was delegitimised, destroyed, and sold off, two private airlines have been grounded in South Africa, yet no one talks about this private sector failure.
The coal industry is booming in China and the developed world, while we are told to destroy our coal industry by the West, and cannot transport coal to our ports for purposes of sail, because Transnet, our own railway network, has collapsed Today, we are confronted with rolling blackouts, which are engineered by those who want to privatise Eskom, and this privatisation process is presented as the only solution.
SOEs are at the centre of economic development and job creation in the entire world, but in South Africa, they are portrayed as a burden Our logic has been proven to be true, that the claim that more private sector involvement in the development, finance, infrastructure or governance does not mean less corruption.
It was proven through Bain and Company being banned in the United Kingdom for the role they played in corruption during the Zuma era in South Africa.
Our position that, it is the private sector that corrupts the public sector, was proven correct when Glencore admitted to bribery and meddling in the political affairs of nations where it sought to conduct business.
Today, there is no valid claim to say that the involvement of the private sector means success, because privately owned airlines have failed in South Africa There is no valid claim that the private sector is the anti-thesis of corruption, because it is the private sector that plays a role in dodgy accounting methods, facilitating tax evasion and bribery, to ensure tenders go in a particular direction, with substandard services being provided.
This is a victory; it is a victory against the propaganda machinery of capital and one which we must reiterate wherever we take platform.
On Crime
Commissars, one thing we need to begin to appreciate is that South Africa has become a bloodbath and a safe space for criminality, rape, and murder.
Between April and June alone of this year, 6 424 people have been murdered. In a space of three months, so many people have died from a deliberate effort to kill them.
These numbers are higher than the casualties seen in the Ukraine and Russia War in the past 6-months. Comrades, in Ukraine, From 24 February 2022 to 24 July 2022, 5,237 people have died.
South Africa's murder statistics rival the statistics of nations at war.
More people died in South Africa in that period of 3-months, than in the brutal and constant attack on the people of Palestine.
More people died in that period than in the War in Ethiopia, or in Nigeria as a result of the action of rebel groups.
Murder in South Africa is at a higher rate than nations that are currently in a state of war. There is a war in the streets of South Africa, and it is black blood that is flowing. It is black communities who are having funerals each and every weekend.
The psychology Of South Africans is one Of violence. It is an inability to respond to oppression and dispossession, an inability to see each Other as humans, which articulates itself into self-hate by black people, and the killing Of each other in black communities.
Our social conditions breed violence. Our landlessness, our exclusion from the economy, the hopelessness that defines shack dwellings, and struggling for the next meal, has broken the humanity of our people.
We no longer see each other as human beings, and our communities have become death zones. The frustrations of inequality, poverty, unemployment, and alcohol abuse, have led to a society that is committing suicide. Blacks people in South Africa are self-mutilating, and there is no tangible response to rescue our people from the hypnosis of death and murder.
The black woman, is facing the brunt Of this twisted psychosis, because in times of war, crimes of a sexual nature against women and children always rise.
It is true that it is the blood Of African men that is flowing the streets, it is black men who are killing each other, but it is women Who are casualties of the damages of war.
In Vietnam, from 1955 to 1975, US soldiers would after raiding villages, rape women and Children.
In Rwanda, during the ethnic war between the Hutu and the Tutsi people in 1994, after the Tutsi's were killed and deemed inhumane, as cockroaches, women and children were raped, harmed, and used as sex slaves of rebel groups, because the spirit of that society was broken.
In Sierre Leone, when the illegal trade of diamonds was at its peak, child soldiers would rape as forms of initiation, while they fought military forces and humiliated African men, their fathers, and brothers.
Rape thrives in a society whose spirit is broken, sexual abuse survives and thrives in conditions of war, and that is why South African woman are an endangered species in this country.
There are 9516 Rape cases opened between April and June 2022, because the war in this country, has broken the moral fabric of our people, and rape is once again being used as a weapon of war.
3 780 of the rapes took place in the homes of rapists or the homes of victims, because the men in this country, have no moral ethic, have no sense of community, and have categorised women as sites of exerting their power, because women are easy targets for violence.
That is what we must grasp about the level, character, and form of crime in this country. It will not be resolved by deployment of military, it won't be solved by more policing, we need to begin to enter our communities and fight against this psychology.
Steve Bantu Biko writes that the black man is so broken, that he smiles his face at the abusive white master, and returns home to take out the frustrations of oppression, of weakness and being undermined, on their wives, and on their children.
I say that we must appreciate the psychology of crime in South Africa, because we will not fix the social ills of this country if we do not understand the state of the psychology of our people.
The oppression of black men is not a justification to abuse women, it is not a reason, an excuse to abuse women. We are merely trying to understand the psychology of what crafts the violence of South Africa.
What is this countries grasp of the role of women in society and their attitude.
towards women? Has the EFF challenged this psychology which breeds violence or is our organisation complacent in backward ideas, that sustain criminality and violence?
I ask this question because our rallies are a testing ground for our ideas, it is where as the leadership we test the psychology of our people, challenge it, but in many instances, we find the state of consciousness of our people has not been prepared for the ideas of the EFF.
We do not conduct rallies because we like events and filling up stadiums, we are testing the consciousness of our people, and more often than not, we find that the
consciousness of our people has not been sufficiently prepared, yet Commissars are deployed there, yet there are Secretaries and Chairs there.
Where is the branch in Soweto where we held Freedom Charter Day, when our people were uncertain when the President of the organisation speaks on the question of Africa?
Where are the branches and Commissars in Matatiele, when our people hesitate when we condemn the practice of Ukuthwala?
As Commissars, as Doctors of society, what characterises your recruitment? Is it characterised by an effort to conscientise our people? Because if it was, then our people would not be shaken by the messages we deliver at our rallies, they would not be confused.
So perhaps we must have a guide about What characterises your methods of recruitment, your methods of running community meetings, and what issues you must speak to, so that we do not surprise our people, as if they are hearing what we stand for, for the first time.
Difference between Mass Mobilisation and Organizational Building
This is where Comrades, the difference lies between mass mobilisation and organizational building. As we build an organisation, there must be a method to what you do.
Building an organisation requires more than filling up a bus list and a venue, it needs you to convert our people into dedicated foot soldiers of the EFF,
It requires honesty and patience, because it is a process that cannot be cheated.
It requires building a branch from scratch and finding it alive even when you have left
That is the only way to ensure we win electoral power. We need the dedication we saw in the recent by-elections, in Ward 05 in North West, Ward 03 in Northern Cape, and Ward 29 in the West Rand, where we won.
We want to see that level of fight in each and every by election, even in circumstances where the odds are against you like we saw in Ward 53, Soweto.
Organisational building demands a high-level of dedication at all material times We are entering a phase of madness, meaning we need discipline and unity from the leadership.
We need a leadership collective that will be able to appreciate what we raised earlier, which is the difference between a contradiction and an antagonism.
We cannot as socialists within the same organisation, have irreconcilable contradictions amongst ourselves. We cannot contest each Other as if we are contesting an enemy in the coming PPA's.
We must have solid Provincial Structures that will deliver results in 2024.
Comrades, in the midst of the hatred and brutalisation of women, provinces of the EFF cannot fail to produce a female leader.
We must be responsive to the demand of female leadership in our ranks, and failure to do so will be tragic, because it will mean the women of South Africa will struggle to see themselves with the structures of an organisation that claims it will liberate them.
The state of our provinces to date must be a topic of discussion both organisationally in terms of meeting of targets of what is required and Elections performance.
Internationalist Question
Comrades, the battle between the newly elected President Of Kenya William Ruto, against Raila Odinga is a reflection of the change of the tide in Africa.
Our people are no longer tied to the politics of the Old guard and former liberation movements, and the firm grip the families of the liberation struggle had held over Kenya's levers of power have been broken.
Kenya is no longer under the family dynasty of Kenyatta and this attitude will very soon spread and will define a new era Of politics in Africa.
Odinga, who has contested repeatedly and lost, represents a generation that will not let go, even though he is being framed as being the less favoured by the West of the two leaders, this does not make him the last option.
The legacy of dynasty politics must be broken in Africa, so that our people become more familiar with change.
Commissars, the conditions of our brothers and sisters in Palestine continues to degenerate as they are bombed into extinction by the Israeli settlers who occupy their land.
The people of ESwatini live under a despotic King and it seems the fires which shook that regime over the past few years have begun to die down Our message of African unity needs to be strengthened and must outlive those who try to use it to isolate us from the people of South Africa The truth around the meaninglessness of borders is gaining traction and we need to intensify that our economic prosperity stems from developing a common purpose in the continent.
This must be done through institutions such as the Pan-African Parliament, where we influenced the emergence of Chief Fortune Charumbira most recently, by standing firm on principle.
Principle will always prevail in the face of opportunism and division.
Issued by EFF, 20 August 2022
