EFF MEDIA STATEMENT ON THE OUTCOMES OF THE THIRD ANNUAL PLENUM

Monday, January 23, 2017

Introduction 

We take this opportunity to brief the people of South Africa, Africa and the world about the outcomes of our National Plenum which set over the weekend in OR Tambo Premier Hotel, Kempton Park. Constituted by structures of the EFF from across the country in Regional and Provincial Command Teams, the Student Central Command Team and the Central Command Team, the national plenum is a platform through which the EFF plans its annual political program towards the realisation of our historic and revolutionary mission; the attainment of Economic Freedom in Our Lifetime.

The plenum resolved on the strategic objectives and national program of action and declared that the year 2017 is The Year of the Branch. This means everything we are going to do this year will in the main be targeted at building the EFF branch so that it is active, has a presence in all voting districts, and forms part of the life and blood of the community

Political Conjuncture 

The 3rd EFF National Plenum took place within a political conjecture of a rapidly changing world. Thus, the plenum noted the current political balance of forces in which the rise of right wing formations in Euro-America represent the end of neoliberalism as a gospel truth for macroeconomic policy practice since the 1970s. This is overtaken by narrow nationalism and protectionism as key macroeconomic policy perspectives.

We note that this has led to China, historically a socialist country, being in the number one defence of globalisation and open markets and the USA, the home of the Washington consensus, as number one advocate of protectionism. We know that capitalism, evil as it is, is always allowed to reinvent itself after multiple crises and collapses which are in anyway generated by its own doing. 

This new international political conjuncture will lead to transformations and realignments across the world in particular within trade agreements. The developing world, which has always needed the policy practice of protecting infant industries thus stands a chance to benefit. However, it is doubtful that this will be the case since  superpowers may continue to impose themselves and their interest on poor countries.

We note that our age suffers the most due to the lack of an international socialist alternative, thus this capitalist re-invention threatens to proceed without giving the working class and developing world any real gains. Thus, in this 100 year Anniversary of the historic socialist Russian Revolution, there is an urgent need to building of unity amongst socialist and working class formations in the world.

We also noted that in our own country, the EFF remains the only alternative for the total economic emancipation of the poor, and black people in general. We reaffirmed our total commitment to the elimination of post-apartheid liberation movement kleptocracy across all realms of the state. We view this as the most urgent threat to the democratic gains of 1994 which is at the core of eroding the only societal power that black people won in 1994; the democratic state and its institutions. 

This is why we reject all disingenuous political campaigns like the ABSA Pay Back The Money campaign which in the main, is a Gupta and state security sponsored campaign aimed at saving the current kleptocratic statuesque. Our political program against white monopoly capitalism and its inherent criminal and exploitative practices will never be determined by enemies of the Economic Emancipation movement. We shall never be a pawn in a chess game of kleptomaniacs and white capitalist forces in South Africa; thus, we will deal with ABSA at our own time.

Public Representatives and By-Elections

We remain proud of the expanded mandate given by the people of South Africa from the 2014 National Elections to the 2017 Local Government Elections. The EFF will remain robust in Parliament, legislatures and in all the councils. All EFF Public representatives and branches shall adopt public schools and health facilities. We shall ensure that we fight against corruption starting from our own ranks to the highest helms of the state; anyone found guilty of corruption shall be mentioned publicly; particularly councillors, MPs and MPLs.

We have taken note of a report of EFF councillors keeping their previous jobs so that they earn as councillors whilst also earning as employees of other institutions. An investigation in this regard is underway and stern actions shall be taken against those councillors found double dipping. It is EFF policy that councillors should work on full time basis for their communities. In addition, we shall act decisively against any EFF public representative found guilty of abusing women, children and substances.

We will be participating in all Ward by-elections with the sole aim of removing the ruling party from government. Anywhere we find an opportunity to remove the public purse from the hand of the corrupt ANC, we shall never hesitate, but strike with revolutionary precision. 

The 3rd National Plenum also expressed itself that where the numbers increase in our benefit, we shall not only vote with the opposition, but we shall also take government. Our objective is to reach an agreements that we take municipalities without co-governing; the DA and other parties must allow us to lead government in municipalities as we have allowed them to do so in municipalities and metros like Tshwane.

Building the Organisation

As per our constitution, all regions of the EFF are due to re-elect their leadership through Regional People’s Assemblies. We have thus adopted guidelines that centrally charge all branch meetings towards the Regional People’s Assemblies (RPA) must first have Branch General Meetings in all the Voting Districts (VD) in their Wards before holding the final Branch General Assembly (BGA) that will elect delegates to the RPA. These are not Voting District meeting, but Branch General Meetings that must be attended by all members of the ward, and which must take place in all VDs.

These must also be used to recruit and renew membership of the EFF. In all regions with branches that are not in good standing, this must happen towards the BGAs that elects the branch leadership. 

This year four of our provinces, KwaZulu Natal, Eastern Cape, Gauteng and North West will also hold their for Provincial Peoples Assemblies to elect provincial leadership. The CCT has taken a decision that due to the weakness of their Provincial Command Teams, Gauteng and the North West must go for early Provincial Peoples Assemblies. Guidelines towards all these assemblies have been adopted and shall be published on all communication platforms of the EFF, including deadlines. 

There will be launching of all branches of the EFF Student Command in all institutions of higher learning. The EFF Student Command is also due for its Central Student Command Team assembly in June this year.

National Program of Action

Our national program of action, which will be fully published on the official communications platform of the EFF, centralises political programs into the wards and branches of the EFF. The national program will only have two national rallies; one will be our 4th Year Anniversary Rally which we plan to have in Durban, KZN and two is the Steve Biko Rally marking the 40th Anniversary of his death in September, in King Williams Town. 

For the 4th Year Anniversary, the EFF will find four kids that share a birthday with the EFF, meaning four kids that were born on 26 July, 2013. These must be from poor families from around KZN. We shall build houses for them and host their forth year birthday parties on the same day we will be officially opening their homes on 26 July 2017. This seeks to ensure that they grow up knowing their revolutionary party and its mission. This will be the EFF Anniversary celebration tradition from hence forth, but above all it is to ensure that each anniversary of the EFF leaves a lasting legacy for ordinary and poor people. 

This year, we shall also mark the 120th Anniversary of Nkosi Sikelela iAfrica which was composed in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga. In marking this anniversary we shall run a pamphleteering camping that explains to our people where this historic song comes from and its impact in the struggle for African liberation across the continent. In addition we will demand that Die Stem Must Fall.

In full celebration of the role and place of music in the struggle, we shall run a music competition that will calumniate into a concert on the 18 of April which is the day Enoch Sontonga died. The concert will be called Ingoma Day and it will be a culmination of regional and provincial rounds, until there are only nine choirs remaining from nine provinces. These nine choirs will then compete on the 18th April, 2017 for the first price. 

We invite all fighters to start forming choirs and practice in the spirit of celebrating the idea and place of the struggle song in carrying our people in difficult times. Struggle songs are a battle cry that tells of the victories, the sufferings and the desires of our people in struggle. To delegitimise struggle songs, is to depoliticise society, thus this concert seeks to make struggle songs fashionable.

We shall begin, with immediate effect, with the Right to Care campaign in which all members and activists of the EFF, from January till the end of February, must visit homes, religious, sports, arts, education and health institutions in their wards to understand the conditions and needs of our people. A branch must know fully, who lives in its ward, visit them and understand their needs; this must be done with the sole purpose of showing that ours is a caring revolution.

All branches of the EFF shall embark on monthly campaigns of caring for the elderly. The branch must know all the elderly in all the voting districts of the ward and have a monthly outreach program that will, amongst other things include knowing their birthdays and sending them birthday cards. The branch must visit them and clean their yards, including doing their gardens. 

In light of the Easter season which is also characterised by high levels of accidents, branches of the EFF will have a Blood Donation Day on the 31 of March 2017. This is not only about participating in the Gift of Life through donating blood, but it is also to bring awareness and make fashionable the idea of giving blood to save lives. 

To mark the world environment day on the 5th June, all our branches shall embark on Ithateng-Zithandeni Environment Campaign in which we shall clean dumping sites, public spaces and graveyards in our neighbourhoods. This campaign will last for the whole month of June. On 10 August, we will have Women’s Marches to all municipalities to demand, amongst other women related issues, that there must be Sexual Offences Court in all municipalities. This will allow all cases relating to sexual violence like rape to be processed much faster so that justice is not delayed. In addition, all branches shall camping for free sanitary towels, in particular for the young women. 

One the 6th of April all branches of the EFF will partake in land occupation struggles. These struggles highlight the urgent need for this country to resolve the land question by expropriating land without compensation for equal redistribution. 

All political holiday commemorations like Sharpeville/Langa Day, Freedom Day, Workers Day, Youth Day, Heritage Day will all be left to the branches to organise ward based events. Finally, on the 27 October all branches will organise Economic Freedom Marches in their wards to target local capital; mines, malls, supermarkets, firms banks etc. EFF branches will submit demands that will include, amongst other things, adoption of schools, crèches and clinics, community library and sporting facilities, and employment creation. 

These are some of the highlights contained in our national program of action as adopted by the 3rd National Plenum, the full version will also be published on all communication platforms of the EFF. 

Africa and International Solidarity

We also reaffirm our calls on Morocco to end its occupation and colonisation of Western Sahara and on the apartheid state of Israel to end its illegal, racist and criminal occupation of Palestinian lands. We call on African leadership to respect popular electoral outcomes for peaceful regime change. We reject the phenomenon of “lead to the death” and call on Africa to leave the era of long terms presidency and violent regime change in the past.

Conclusion

The year 2017 is our year, it is The Year of the Branch and in it we pledge that we shall execute our program of action with revolutionary discipline and precision. We declare that we are the future we have been calling for and that victory is certain. 

Statement issued by the EFF, 23 January 2017