The EFF statement on the national peoples assembly being held in the University of the Free State
26 November 2014
The Economic Freedom Fighters welcomes the University of the Free State's decision to avail the university premises for our first elective National Peoples Assembly on Peoples Power for Economic Freedom. The EFF commends the University in particular because since our formation on the 26 of July 2013 many public spaces have been closed down for the new economic emancipation movement. Many cities and town councils, municipalities, academic, sports and entertainment centres have bowed to the pressure of anti-democratic forces, often located in the ruling party, to refuse us places to hold our meetings.
The University of the Free State has thus demonstrated that the principles and practice of academic freedom and institutional autonomy still exist in our society. The university does not have to agree with the EFF or its policies, it only needs to uphold and promote the principle that there must be a robust contestation of ideas in society and universities must be the first defence and providers of such a space. Those who hold different ideas, who challenge power, must feel safest in a democratic university and the university must be the first and last refuge for academic expression, ideological contestation and freedom of speech.
Anti-democratic forces who close public spaces against us simply because we hold a different view must be condemned as they fundamentally undermine and violate our democratic right to the freedom of assembly; but above all, by denying us places to assemble, they deny us the freedom of speech, particularly collective forms of free speech. Failing to argue against us and in light of the obvious fact that our ideas are winning in society, they choose to cowardly shut down public spaces denying our right to freedom of assembly.
A Democratic university or a university in a democracy, by virtue of being the centre of culture, learning and knowledge production, must be the first defence of the freedoms of speech and assembly. This is because learning, knowledge and cultural production are impossible without freedoms of speech and assembly. The EFF therefore commends the university in this regard, that under the current management South Africans will find that the doors of learning and culture are indeed open for the radical political movements like the EFF.