Response to the so-called civil society organisations on the Electoral Amendment Bill

20 October 2022

This letter serves as a response to a letter you wrote to individual Members of Parliament requesting them to vote against the Electoral Amendment Bill, which will be tabled and approved by the National Assembly on the 20th of October 2022. After presenting a lot of incoherent and totally subjective views against the Bill, the letter you have sent to Members of Parliament says that if we democratically and legitimately reject your opinion, you, as "civil society", "will also inform South Africans to take note of those political parties who vote in favour of this Bill so that in the 2024 elections they can isolate such actors because they pose a direct threat to the strength of our cherished democracy".

Please be informed that the Economic Freedom Fighters and all its Members of Parliament are going to emphatically and decisively vote for the Electoral Amendment Bill that will be tabled in the National Assembly on the 20th of October 2022. We will also support that the Bill be passed by the National Council of Provinces before it is signed into law by the President. What this means is that we reject your request that we must vote against the bill with contempt.

As part of this rejection, we request that each and everyone of the so called Civil Society Organisations that signed the letter disclose as to who exactly are they representing and who are the funders of their activities. We have it on good and conclusive authority that organizations such as Right To Know, Open Secrets, Rivonia Circle, My Vote Count and Defend our Democracy are funded by the Open Society Foundation which belongs to an American Neo-Colonialist called George Soros.

George Soros is a departing 92-year old Neo-Colonialist who feels entitled to impose his worldview and subjective interests in different parts of the world. George Soros is an anti-black racist who goes around dictating what should happen to countries as if there are no people who can determine their own future. In South Africa, all right-wing organisations, so called civil society formations, and so-called publications such as the Daily Maverick, are funded by George Soros' Open Society Foundations.

We are additionally aware that organisations such as the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution and the Center for Enterprises and Development are funded by the Oppenheimers, who are also major donor to the Democratic Alliance and Action-SA. The Oppenheimers are puppet masters for the ANC's sitting, inept, and directionless president, who is doing everything in his power to destroy our country.

We all know that the foundation of the Oppenheimers' wealth is the colonial and racist plunder, pillage, and exploitation of our natural resources and people. The Oppenheimers' wealth is watered by the blood and sweat of black people, whom they have had no respect for until this day. We therefore cannot take instructions from the Oppenheimers, who come in the guise of civil society organizations.

With all these observations, we have the right to conclude that all of you who call yourselves civil society organizations do not represent the people but represent the capitalist and greedy interests of your

handlers and funders. We therefore instruct you to stop sending any form of correspondence to EFF members of Parliament until you empirically demonstrate that you are not stooges and puppets of the Oppenheimers and George Soros.

We in the EFF know who our constituencies are and how to consult with them on a regular basis, as well as where to present our reports and accountability. With more than 1,8 million people who voted for the EFF in 2019, we can boldly state that we represent a significant component of South Africa's population, and the majority of you represent the interests of your handlers and funders.

The argument that it is not fair for independent candidates to forfeit additional votes does not hold ground because if independent candidates wanted to gain additional seats if voted by a higher number of voters than is required, they have an option to register as a political party.

We therefore write to reject your and your handlers' request that we must vote against a Bill that was widely consulted on. We believe the legislation that will be tabled and discussed in Parliament today perfectly responds to the Constitutional Court ruling that we should allow independent candidates to contest elections. Any view that suggests that Parliament has violated the law by consulting on and thereafter passing the Bill is contemptible.

Regards,

N F Shivambu

EFF Deputy President and Chief Whip