The EFF Manifesto launch will be held at the Moses Mabhida Stadium. (Photo credit: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
TThe Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) released its 2024 election manifesto on Saturday, expected to promise relief for power shortages and unemployment if the party wins a parliamentary majority in this year's elections.
Party chairwoman Veronica Mente said the party's manifesto was sure to set off fireworks.
With the theme 'Victory to 2024', leader Julius Malema will address members at the 500-capacity Moses Mabhida Stadium 55 on the solutions needed to reduce the burden.
Mr Malema has publicly stated that the solution to load shedding is to extend the life of coal-fired power plants until the renewable energy sector can prove it can generate enough megawatts to sustain the country.
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Mr Mente said the manifesto also clarified the EFF's position on the coalition government, which would ensure the party remained in a governing position.
Despite the strained relationship between the ANC and the EFF in Gauteng, Mr Mente said the party would work with Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi if the ANC agreed to power-sharing terms for the Red Berets in the province and municipalities. He said he was ready to “have a dialogue.”
“If the ANC extends the invitation to join the coalition again, we will listen to their views,” she said.
These conditions include key influential positions, such as metropolitan finance departments, to ensure that the EFF has authority over decisions regarding service delivery and budget flows.
Mr Mente said the party was not willing to compromise on the terms as it would allow the EFF to fulfill its promises to voters regarding service delivery.
The agreement allows both parties to appoint members of the Gauteng metropolitan area's mayoral committees, with the exception of Tshwane, where the alliance remains in the minority.
Mr Mente said the EFF's ambition to lead the government had been realized as the coalition with the ANC placed EFF members in leadership positions in the Gauteng Mayor's Executive.
The ANC's electoral fortunes are expected to fall to 38.5% from 50% in 2019, while the EFF is expected to rise to 18.6% from 14.69% in 2019, according to the latest Ipsos poll released on Tuesday.
Results for other political parties are: Democratic Alliance (17.3%), Inkatha Freedom Party (3.6%), Action SA (3.4%), African Christian Democratic Party (0.9%), Freedom Front Plus (0.8%), Other parties 6.8% It became.
In the 2021 local elections, the ANC won 46% of the vote, forcing it to form a coalition with the opposition. This trend is likely to continue in the next election.
According to the Ipsos research, “This suggests that a national-level coalition is possible, although not guaranteed. If such an election result were obtained, the ANC would be in a national government position. Only political parties with approximately 4% to 6% of the public's support will be required to form a coalition.
“Coalitions with only two parties could streamline negotiations and increase coalition effectiveness. However, this is just speculation and we hope that more research will be done in the lead-up to the 2024 elections.” It’s important to emphasize that.”
Mr Mente said the party would also consider working with Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK) under the leadership of former president Jacob Zuma, once MK has addressed the uncertainty around registration.
“So far, we have been observing MK and have seen that they are busy in the country, but we will engage with them only after we know more about them. We don’t even know who they represent or what they represent, so once they figure that out, we can have a conversation,” she said.
The ANC and MK parties are seen as likely to form a coalition partner with the EFF after parties in the multiparty charter reject the Red Berets because of their positions on issues such as immigration and land.
Earlier this week, ActionSA national spokesperson Michael Beaumont said the party had agreed with the Democratic Alliance not to work with the EFF at either state or national level, citing differences in the Red Berets' policies.
“Once you're in power, you're going to have to sit down from day one and figure out how to rebuild the economy.” [the EFF] “We're talking about nationalizing the Reserve Bank, land grabbing, all sorts of strange economic proposals, and those policies have proven to be very problematic in South Africa,” he said.
Mr Beaumont warned that if the EFF continued to pursue its policies, there would be no one left to dance with on the electoral stage.
“The EFF's actions make it very difficult to work with them, because they are more extreme and polarized. That doesn't help when you're trying to build a coalition that can exclude the ANC.” he said.