Statement of the Economic Freedom Fighters on parliamentary deployments
01 June 2014
Over 1 million South Africans have voted for the Economic Freedom Fighters' agenda of economic emancipation on the 7 May 2014 general elections. This mandate has resulted in the EFF securing 25 seats in the National Assembly, 6 in the National Council of Provinces, and 30 in all 9 provincial legislatures. Since all these members have been sworn in there have been many developments both in governmental changes as well as in different aspects of South African political spheres. This press briefing seeks to bring the public on board on the views of EFF and the key deployments of its fighters and commissars into different roles in public representative bodies.
Public Representatives of the EFF
The public representatives of the EFF have already demonstrated the preparedness to stick to its commitments. This is exemplified by fulfilling the promise to wear clothes of the working-class to parliament as opposed to formal suits that are said to constitute parliamentary decorum. All the EFF first generation members of parliament arrived in red mineworkers and domestic workers' gear to signal their entry into parliament. This act seeks to register who the EFF stands for and who the EFF will fight for and that is the excluded, super-exploited and marginalised masses of the working class.
The EFF public representatives will continue to wear the red workers' gear in all the key parliamentary events like state of the nation address and opening of parliament. Noteworthy, is that this is related to parliament only and not state functions as the mandate of our people relates only to representation to parliament which does not go beyond.
The EFF is not in government yet but it is on course to do nothing else but seize power from the ruling party in order to deliver economic emancipation to the masses of our people. Our commitment to EFF public representatives using public services is subject to EFF being elected into government. Nevertheless, EFF shall table a motion to parliament that all public representatives be required by law to use public services which they, as government preside over.
We will continue to fight for this principle as we believe that it does not make sense that government gives people services that its leaders are not prepared to use. This will be the case as well with all the manifesto propositions of the EFF. They shall be canvassed in parliament, and if needs be, we shall do so as well as on the picket lines. Ina addition, all EFF MPs and MPLs will be expected to adopt an informal settlement, hospital and a school which they will advocate and fight for its development as part of their parliamentary work.
Parliamentary Deployments
The EFF leadership has decided on the following deployments into National Parliament Positions:
Parliamentary Leader: CIC Julius Malema
Chief Whip: Commissar Floyd Shivambu
Whip: Commissar Hlengiwe Hlophe/Maxon
Whip: Commissar Godrich Gardee
Whip (NCOP): Commissar Tebogo Mokwele
The EFF has already provided its critique of the permanent mass meeting of ministers that President Jacob Zuma has constituted. In a nutshell, we were the first to quantify the wasteful cost of R1, 3 billion that will be spent on 72 cabinet members including their deputies. We also indicated that this was President Zuma's attempt to accommodate as many of his loyalists as possible into high government life. Before announcing our portfolio allocations into all the different ministries and parliamentary structures, it is critical to indicate that had we been government, the following would be how the EFF cabinet is structured:
The Deputy President:
Responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
EFF Cabinet would be made of the following Ministries:
1. The Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services
2. The Ministry of Public Service and Administration
3. The Ministry of Defence and Military Veterans
4. The Ministry of Home Affairs
5. The Ministry of Water, Environmental Affairs and Tourism
6. The Ministry of Intelligence
7. The Ministry of Communications
8. The Ministry of Safety and Security
9. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Industrialisation (includes: Trade and Industry, Economic Development an Small Business Development)
10. The Ministry of Finance
11. The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reform (includes: Forestries and Fisheries)
12. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology
13. The Ministry of Health
14. The Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation
15. The Ministry of Transport
16. The Ministry of Minerals and Energy
17. The Ministry of Social Development
18. The Ministry of Arts, Culture, Sport and Recreation
19. The Ministry of Labour
20. The Ministry of Public Works
21. The Ministry of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
22. The Ministry of Human Settlements and Sanitation
The essence of our critique is that cabinet must be about efficiency, political oversight and guidance and not be function based. South Africa has a population of 52 million people, with 9 provinces which also have their own cabinets. There is truly no need to have more than twenty two individuals forming part of cabinet. Government must always find the best ways to save the people's funds and as it stands; President Zuma's government is wasteful.
President Zuma has also reduced the Deputy President into ceremonial duties and given all the key tasks to Minister in the Presidency, for example, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Women and Youth Development fall under that Ministry as opposed to the Deputy President. It is wasteful to have a Deputy President whose primary duty is to attend to ceremonial functions as opposed to executive duties. This is not a defence of the comprador bourgeois representative Cyril Ramaphosa as it is only a demonstration of how President Zuma functions. The fact nonetheless is that Ramaphosa has been overlooked in favour of President Zuma's home boy, Jeffry Radebe, thus rendering him redundant.
Related to this, is the exclusion of the former Speaker of the National Assembly, Max Sisulu, who has been punished for allowing parliament to look into the Nkandla corruption scandal after the report of the Public Protector. President Zuma has reconstructed his deployments to make sure that those in key government and parliamentary positions suppress any process to hold him accountable for his involvement in the self-enrichment project of Nkandla. Baleka Mbete has therefore been brought back to suppress parliamentary enquiry into the Nkandla scandal. This is another key feature of how Zuma has constructed his cabinet and other key parliamentary deployments to shield himself from public accountability.
Nevertheless, the following are the EFF portfolio committee allocations for members of the National Assembly, according to current seat numbers in the house:
23: CIC Julius Malema - Minerals Resources.
24: Floyd Shivambu - Finance
66: Godrich Gardee - Justice and Correctional Services
65: Hlengiwe Maxon - Social Development
64: Mbuyiseni Ndlozi - Communications
63: Paul Ramakatsa - Defence and Military veterans.
108: Magdalene Moonsamy - International Relations.
107: Andile Mngxitama - Rural Development and Land Reform
109: Sam Matiase - COGTA
110: Natasha Louw - Home Affairs
169: Pumza Ntombongwane - Human Settlements
170: Moteka Pebane - Health
171: Khanyisile Tshabalala - Public Accounts (SCOPA)
168: Sipho Mbatha - Higher Education
167: Asanda Matshobeni - Public Enterprises
166: Modikela Mathloko - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
252: Makoti Khawula - Water and Sanitation
251: Tshilivhali Mulaudzi - Transport
250: Reneilwe Mashabela - Basic Education
249: Kgotso Morapelo - Labour
248: Pimrose Sonti - Public Works
253: Bernard Joseph - Trade and Industry
254: Veronica Nqweniso - Presidency: Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.
337: Lucky Twala - Intelligence
338: Pro Khoza - Police
In the immediate, EFF will be focusing on the mining sector and will table a motion in parliament that parliament must get involved in finding a lasting solution to the platinum sector strike. We note the well-meaning attitude of the new Minister in Mineral Resources, Ngoako Ramahlodi. His reading of the problems faced by the sector is consistent with his views before he was in government. However, he will not enjoy the support of Jacob Zuma's cabinet and nothing radical, including a long lasting solution to the platinum strike, will emerge.
This is because mining capital is not willing to concede to the R12, 500 that workers are demanding. In addition, mining capital is well represented and its interests guarded by its advanced detachments concentrated especially in the Presidency, namely: Jeffry Radebe, Cyril Ramaphosa and the Speaker of Parliament, Baleka Mbete, all of whom have business interests in mining sector.
The EFF reasserts its support for the workers' demands and that we shall continue to fight for the nationalisation of our mineral resources to benefit mineworkers, mining communities and the industrialisation and diversification of our economy.
Induction of EFF Public Representatives
All the 61 public representatives of the EFF have met over the past three days in a political induction workshop which focused on the Founding Manifesto of the EFF and the South African Political Economy. The workshop also focused on providing guidance on how EFF public representatives should conduct themselves and continue to be rooted in ordinary people's struggles in different workplaces and communities.
Conclusion
The EFF takes seriously that it is for the first time since 1994 that an openly socialist organisation has entered parliament as the third largest party. This is a significant moment in the life of the left political developments because the working class now has a direct voice in the South African parliament.
Statement issued by Julius Malema, Economic Freedom Fighters' Commander-in-Chief, June 1 2014
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