EFF NEW YEARS MESSAGE

Friday, 31 December 2021

The EFF wishes all African people a happy and safe cross-over into the New Year. It is by grace that many have made it thus far, in the face of the tremendous challenges confronting us, from rampant unemployment and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The year 2021 has been yet another year of committed struggle to the agenda of Economic Freedom, and the EFF remains proud of the collective leadership and ground forces for ensuring we built solid structures and contest electoral power to the utmost of our ability.

The growth of the EFF remains admirable, despite doomsayers and those who have made it their task to misrepresent what we stand for. In this year, the EFF opened its Headquarters, Winnie Mandela House, a show of strength and stability that detractors could not stomach.

Notably this year, the EFF reaffirmed its existence by being the only political party to exhibit electoral growth in the most recent Local Government Elections. The EFF not only grew in terms of votes cast, relative to all other established political parties, we also increased our share of public representatives across municipalities.

In 2016 the EFF had 826 councillors, while in the 2021 Local Government Elections we received 1066 councillors of the EFF.

The growth registered by the EFF also meant we were key role-players in how municipalities are constituted, and as a result placed the EFF in a position of ensuring that the ruling party continues to lose control of economically strategic areas such as Metropolitans.

As a result of the brave efforts of all leaders and members of the EFF, we managed to ensure that for the first time since the dawn of democracy, the ruling party received less than fifty-percent of the national vote.

Our growth has led to unparalleled levels of confrontation with the establishment, a strengthening of the land discourse and continued defiance of the status quo.

Our growth however remains on the backdrop of the continued mismanagement of the state by a parasitic government, the abject poverty of our people and apparent re-colonisation of our country at the level of economic and medical policy.

As each year goes by, our people are trapped in making resolutions aimed at personal development. These resolutions are stifled by an incompetent and anti-developmental government, whose interests in profit supersede the interests of the people. It is futile to resolve to improve one's economic condition, in the face of deliberate economic collapse and auctioning of State-Owned Entities to the private sector.

It is naive to expect to be a successful entrepreneur, while Eskom is deliberately collapsed and has now further proposed a 20% tariff increase to electricity, basically shifting its responsibility to recoup funds lost from corruption and mismanagement of Eskom to consumers.

There can be no true aspirations of unity in this country, while women and children live in a constant state of fear, because of a failing South African Police Department (SAPS) and judiciary, that protects perpetrators and humiliates victims.

As we cross-over into the New Year, the children of the poor and working class will once again risk their lives for free education and registration. This is because those who lead this country thrive on a youth dependent on drugs and alcohol abuse. An educated nation is a threat to those who are corrupt, and for this reason they will again brutalise those who demand access to education.

This is the bleak reality of the New Year.

Economic Freedom, safety for women and children, employment and free education cannot be manifested at the end of each year, while continuing to put in power those who have squandered political freedom at the altar of capitalists. For any meaningful change to happen for our people, we must make the correct political decisions that are aligned to what we aspire to be.

Let us all be mindful of these conditions and resolve to protect the women and children of this country in the New Year. Our resolutions must not only be personal, but to the benefit of all of us as a people of Africa.

Let us resolve to defend our State-Owned Entities and reject the auctioning of Eskom to the private sector, whose only interest is profit.

May the children of the working class rest assured that they will find the gallant Economic Freedom Fighters Students' Command (EFFSC) at the gates of all institutions of higher learning, who will ensure that all are registered free of charge.

We wish all progressives and African people in the continent and the diaspora, a Happy New Year. Remain safe and avoid drinking and driving, and celebrate the festivities with your loved ones.

The time is now to re-energise for the war to come, and re-commit ourselves to the fight for Economic Freedom in Our Lifetime!

Issued by the EFF, 31 December 2022