EFF Press Statement on Gupta Leaks, Recession and the Future

Introduction

Following the degenerating state of affairs in our country, particularly economically, we have decided to address the nation and provide a critique, analysis and political direction to society and the world. Indeed, South Africa is at the cross roads of social chaos due to the directionless, kleptocracy and ideological bankruptcy of the ruling party. 

Gupta Leaks 

Nothing demonstrates the self-destructive mode of the ruling party than the emails that have been published by several media outlets in the past two weeks. We can confirm for sure that these email are authentic because the information they contain has been known to us long ago.

On many occasions, we have taken the country into confidence about money movements into Dubai through the president and cabinet ministers. We have also spoken about off-shore accounts as well as related state corruption that benefits the Gupta family in entities like Transnet, Eskom, SAA and Denel (see EFF dossier on Transnet deal here).

All what we have been saying is now supported by hardcore evidence that is available for anyone to see. Any of the cabinet ministers who is implicated and feels that these emails are fake should have challenged them though the courts or press ombudsman by now. However, we can guarantee you all that none of them will do so because these emails and their contents are authentic.

Last week Zuma once again lied to parliament and the people of South Africa by claiming that he is not opposed to the commission of enquiry into state capture by the Guptas. According to the binding remedial action of the Public Protector Zuma was supposed to appoint a commission within 30 days i.e. in December 2016. The ONLY reason that was not done is because Zuma instituted a review application in the Pretoria High Court which is now scheduled to be heard from 24 October 2017.

With the revelation of the emails it is clear that October is too far. Accordingly we have instructed our lawyers this morning to send a letter to Zuma demanding that in the next few days he should withdraw his review application so that South Africa can know the truth without his delaying tactics and endless appeals like in the case of the Spytapes saga.

If he does not withdraw then he must agree that all the parties approach the Judge President for the hearing to be brought forward to within a month from now; that is to an agreed date by July. Should he fail to accept our demands then the EFF will have no option but to approach the court for an early date on the grounds that the matter has now become urgent and South Africans can no longer afford to wait for another 5 months plus endless appeals.

We believe that at the core of the emails and Gupta Leaks is evidence that those who run government today have betrayed their country and facilitated a coup by handing over  constitutional decision making powers to a foreign family. In a normal democracy this unpatriotic betrayal is tantamount or even worse than treason. 

We call on all genuine and freedom loving South Africans to take a hard look at the evidence and to realise that the organisation of Luthuli, Tambo, Mandela and Hani has been hijacked by a criminal Mafia gang led by Jacob Zuma. South Africa has been stolen right in front of our eyes. Any person who votes for the ANC knowing about these criminal activities will also be making themselves accomplices in the crime of High Treason being committed by Zuma and his gang of criminals.

We urge all patriotic South Africans to support this call by the EFF by any lawful means necessary including taking to the streets 

Recession 

This week Stats SA reported that the real gross domestic product has decreased by 0.7% in the first quarter of 2017, following a decrease of 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2016, thus leading to the a recession. This depressing state of affairs is due to the negligence of the ruling party in that men and women who lead us in this country are preoccupied with looting the country’s coffers to make themselves rich than to uplift the living conditions of our people by stabilising the economy. 

This recession means our economy is shrinking, in particular the manufacturing sector. A recession means the government will not have enough money to pay social grants, pensions for the elderly, build RDP houses, fund free education and healthcare.

It means it will not have enough money to continue paying for jobs in the public sector including EPWP. Increasingly more people will loose their jobs as firms and factories continue to shutdown or downsize. The youth, majority of which are already unemployed will suffer the most because when firms take decisions to retrench they often start with the less experienced, which are often young people.

We are in this state of affairs also because the ANC refused to accept that the ideological tenants of its macroeconomic strategy since 1994 fails to lead to sustainable growth and deal with inequality and poverty.

The solution is to look into the tried and tested policy proposals that we have been speaking about; protection of infant industries through a different tariff regime, nationalisation of banks to have control on business funding and the amounts that actually get given to small, in particular black businesses, nationalisation of mines, as well as the expropriation of land without compensation with a sound agrarian plan to stimulate local food production. 

With the ANC in government, which is only interested in corruption, Dubai trips, off-shore accounts stealing billions of taxpayers money, we will degenerate further into a depression. 

War on Women and the Girl Child

Our country’s gender relations have yet again come to the centre of public discourse with reports of more cases of women abuse, rape and murder. These reports should not mislead us into thinking that there is an outbreak of violence, rape and murder against women. The reality is that we are talking about a normalised war which has been unfolding for many years against women in general and the girl child in particular.

South Africa is a patriarchal society in which toxic and violent ways of being a man are celebrated and promoted. The culture of treating women as though they are property, possession or objects of sexual pleasure for men has been at the centre of sustaining this violence, rape and murder of women. Women and girl children are no longer safe anywhere; they face the same dangers from their fathers, brothers, husbands and partners as they do from strangers on the streets. 

As a society we must uproot this culture by ensuring that first we support each and every victim of rape and women abuse, particularly poor, rural women with no access to social media. We must rebuild police stations by immediately ensuring that all the cops who ignore and ridicule cases of women abuse and rape must be exposed, charged and ultimately imprisoned for defeating the ends of justice. 

All of us, everywhere we are, we must educate ourselves, in particular as men, of progressive feminist values and challenge patriarchy from religious spaces as well as within political movements. The struggle against patriarchy for men is about self-destruction; men must self-destruct from patriarchal chains that have turned them into monsters of rape, sexism and heartless murder and abuse of women.

Conclusion

We want to express our solidarity with the people of Cape Town and other areas hit by the storm and wild fires. We express solidarity to the poor and landless masses who during such natural disasters face the worst risks of destruction and death. The storms must be a reminder that the land must be redistributed to the benefit of the poor.

Statement issued by Economic Freedom Fighters, 8 June 2017