THE UNAUTHORISED USE OF EFF LETTERHEADS AND REGALIA IN PROTEST ACTIONS/ UNLAWFUL STRIKES IN AND AROUND SOUTH AFRICA
Wednesday, 5 December 2018
Granting that one of our seven cardinal pillars of our Constitution is massive protected industrial development through mass-based campaigns in support of organised workers, we however, do NOT condone the use of this pillar as an excuse to conduct illegal and unlawful strikes or protest actions in any manner whatsoever.
The EFF is not a Trade Union and does not have a labour desk. No member of the EFF in the name of or on behalf of the EFF has the authority to represent workers in any dispute with their employer under any circumstances whatsoever.
It has recently come to our attention that the EFF has been cited in urgent Court Applications and Actions due to unlawful protest actions involving the unauthorised use of organisational letterheads and/or regalia. This takes place before and/or during the participation of mass strike action and/or activities by aggrieved communities and/or workers with such people purporting to be members of the EFF and acting on the mandate of the EFF.
In light of the above, we have advised and placed on record, that Provincial Chairpersons, Provincial Secretaries in their official capacity and in performing their duties to lead EFF members and maintaining close ties with the masses, should do so in a lawful manner, failing which those people conducting themselves contrary to these directives and the law are deemed to be personally liable and on their own account.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have noticed the unlawful and illegal use of EFF Letterheads and Regalia in protest action/unlawful strikes at private companies/businesses in and around South Africa. We hereby wish to state that we do not condone and/or sanction the usage of EFF Letterheads and Regalia in protest action/unlawful strikes at companies/businesses.
Should any legal application or action arise from any unauthorised use of organisational letterheads and regalia before and/or during participation in a mass strike action and/or activities not sanctioned by Head Office, the legal team based at the head office of the organisation will distance itself from such action and such people and their leaders and will take no responsibility for any cause of action.
Furthermore, the individuals involved in any of the illegal strike actions mentioned hereinabove will be held personally liable for any Court actions or applications that are served on Head Office, including cost orders that may be granted against the EFF.
Such individuals will be disciplined and may be expelled from their membership of the organisation.
Furthermore, any damage to property of a company, business, or small enterprise, will be for the individuals own account who damaged such property or the individual who lead and/or agitated such mass action which lead to the damage of such property.
For the avoidance of any doubt, we hereby place on record and state that: "The Economic Freedom Fighters do not sanction, in any manner whatsoever, the looting, striking, or protesting at any company/business premises to disrupt operations or damage property. Furthermore, no Provincial Chairperson, Provincial Secretary or any other Provincial member has the authority or instruction to allow any such action to take place under the auspices of the EFF.
The EFF would never condone any such action which stops business operations and accordingly we hereby, as an organisation as a whole, distance ourselves from any such action.
We call on all members of the EFF to exercise high morale and high discipline at all times.
Issued by the Economic Freedom Fighters, 5 December 2018
