People’s Power for Economic Freedom Table of Content

The founding manifesto adopted by the July 26, 2013 national consultative assembly characterizes EFF as a MARXIST-LENINIST-FANONIAN militant, radical, fearless, anti-capitalist and fervent opponent of world imperialism. On page 128, paragraph 26, The Coming Revolution describes the EFF as: “a radical, leftist, anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movement with an internationalist outlook anchored by popular grassroots formations and struggles. The EFF will be the vanguard of community and workers’ struggles and will always be on the side of the people. The EFF will, with determination and consistency, associate with the protest movement in South Africa and will also join in struggles that defy unjust laws”.

We have now gained sufficient understanding of the nature of the political and economic situation in our country. We now fully understand what IS TO BE DONE in respect of what are the challenges and the minimum programme as well as the tasks of our revolution, which is occasioned by a post-apartheid, so called ‘democratic’ dispensation. Though there are contending views on both side of whether to retain a Pan-Africanist character or not, the view that argues for the retention, highlighted that it would be regrettable to discard an Africanist character as that we will be tantamount to validating a Eurocentric perception against the ability of Africans to articulate own narrative which affirms African solutions to African challenges. An Africanist character of the organization denotes a historical and contemporary post-colonial case for black consciousness as a prerequisite for Africa’s right to self-determination.

That EFF should be a convergence of historical dominant streams of the Congress movement and Pan-Africanism tendencies of the liberation struggle. Since the question of unity among blacks, as a common determinant has not been fully achieved, there is a need to continue on this path the struggle for the unity of the African people and take it to its logical conclusion.

Africans in diaspora and in the continent continue to get first-degree exposure to racism and other forms of segregation. The EFF cannot be everything to everybody. Pan-Africanism is not mutually exclusive with the class struggle. In fact, given the history of colonialism in Africa and colonialism of a special type or internalized settler colonialism particularly in South Africa, radical pan-Africanism and nationalism - a proponent of which is black consciousness - is a prerequisite condition for a thorough-going struggle for economic emancipation of the black majority in general and Africans in particular. The place and position of Africans must find dominant expression within the struggle for economic freedom pursued by the EFF.

We are also clear about the essential prerequisites for solving South Africa’s social and economic challenges. We have answered to these basic prerequisites by means or through establishing a new movement for economic freedom – the ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS.

The strategic necessity of the birth of the Economic Freedom Fighters as a protest movement is predicated by two of its underpinning philosophical thoughts, that of:

1. 
   Radical pan-nationalism or national (black) consciousness and
   
2. 
   Progressive internationalism
   

Significantly, EFF’s emergence marks a reconstitution of the two dominant black political traditions on the left of the South African discourse namely the congress movement or ‘chartarist’ and black consciousness as illustrated above. It has also buried subliminal rivalry of both and succeeded to infuse together these former hostile views into the same political fold.

The founding manifesto defines us. It unpacks the social and class formations and relations in our country. Particularly it defines these social forces between themselves (with their often, here opened and there closed contradictory interests) and with their relations to the means of production. We now understand the motive force’s tasks and targets and now we grasp the character of the Economic Freedom Fighters. What is the character of the ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS at the present stage? It is a social-democratic or a socialist from the standpoint of what it defines as its strategic and principal enemy?

The EFF identifies capitalism and imperialism as its primary enemy on the basis of this it characterizes itself as anti- capitalist and fervently anti-imperialist movement. By this, EFF locates itself with the world working class socialist revolution. What locates the EFF on the side of international socialist movement?

This undertaking is profoundly expressed through two ideological features of progressive internationalism and radical Pan-Africanism.

Recognition of the historical socio-economic and political conditions e.g slavery, racism against Africans in the continent and in the diaspora, signaled by their collective subjugation as a people and as a class. The role of pan-Africanism has not diminished, is even more relevant today. Fanonian’s outlook concedes to the very contemporary role of black consciousness to sharpen societal contradictions of race in particular. Progressive internationalism calls for wider collaborative platforms with like-minded organizations in the continent and in the diaspora.

The following should be guarded against role of post-colonial black bourgeoisie

1. 
   national and black bourgeois and the promotion of capitalism tendencies
   
2. 
   the class question
   
3. 
   the national question
   
4. 
   defending the black skin despite and above all is problematic
   

Retaining the radical pan-Africanist character potentially distinguishes the EFF as a proud organization of Africans and this is consistent with the established humanist-socialist traditions elsewhere in the post-colonial third world countries in the African continent, Latin America and Asia.

“National consciousness, instead of being the all-embracing crystallization of the innermost hopes of the whole people, instead of being the immediate and most obvious result of the mobilization of the people, will be in any case only an empty shell, a crude and fragile travesty of what it might have been”.

Franz Fanon calls to us to move with speed to realize a need to ensure that Africans are reconciled with their land, wealth and family through nationalization as a process and programme in our lifetime for that EFF must pursue the following:-

1. 
   An urgent obligation exists as a mass based movement of the left, and unapologetically pursues the agenda of nationalization of all mineral resources in line with the founding manifesto as a political imperative, is sacrosanct and constitutional obligation.
   
2. 
   Politically and organizationally, in terms of its programme, the EFF strives for the mobilization of all social movements; the dejected, marginalized unemployed youth, underemployed professionals, students, homeless, landless and the civil society organizations in their protests, to take joint action for control and ownership of our country’s political institutions under the command and leadership of the revolutionary classes.
   
3. 
   Economically, it aims at the expropriation of all land without compensation and which shall be owned by the state and the nationalization of all mines, mineral resources, and all the strategic sectors and enterprises which are currently in private hands.
   
4. 
   Building a vanguard revolutionary movement of the poor and the working class styled in the nature of EFF is a positive step closer towards the unity of all left forces and the attainment of real economic liberation for all South Africans, particularly Africans and black majority.
   
5. 
   EFF comes as a dynamizing force for change for all South Africans and the rest of the continent including the global connection or political engagements within the regional and international revolutionary movements.
   
6. 
   EFF is determined to exist side by side with all progressive forces and movements and seek to pursue the struggle for economic freedom in our lifetime, guided by Marxist-Leninist-Fanonian theories of struggle not as dogma, but as guide to action.
   
7. 
   EFF is here to elevate the resistance/protest movement to a decisive victory to vindicate the justness of the cause of liberation wars and to pay tribute to all those who perished fighting for the liberation of the African people and all the oppressed people of our land.
   

We depart from a standpoint that because revolutions are festivals of the oppressed masses should inherently be ethical and morally beyond reproach. The phrase ‘revolutionary morality’ is coined and derived from this understanding. Moral and ethical uprightness underpins al human endeavors. People prefer to be good. Ethics in this context is concerned with a way of life which promotes the common good. EFF is founded on strong humanism, which is based on a culture of high social and personal values, rooted in human solidarity and communalism.

To establish and sustain a society that cherishes revolutionary values and to create conditions for total political and economic emancipation, social justice and equitable distribution of wealth of the nation, our Founding Manifesto underscores the following objectives:

1. 
   To attain and defend the national integrity and liberation of the oppressed black majority of South Africa
   
2. 
   To participate in the worldwide struggle for the complete eradication of imperialism, colonialism and all forms of discrimination based on racial prejudice
   
3. 
   To participate in support and promote all struggles form the attainment of the complete independence and unity of African states and by extension, the African continent
   
4. 
   To oppose resolutely, tribalism, regionalism, xenophobia, religious and cultural intolerance
   
5. 
   To oppose oppression of women and the oppression of all other gendered persons
   
6. 
   To oppose patriarchy, sexism, and homophobia and any cultural or religious practices that promotes the oppression of anyone, women in particular
   

The question of the quality of leadership at all levels of our Movement and its structures should at the center of any discussion on building the organization. This is crucial in the sense that we cannot have a strong, radical and militant activist movement that can ‘lead and guide the struggle for economic freedom in our lifetime’ without a strong and quality leadership cores at all levels. The leadership cores which is able to wear all storms and continue to lead the struggle for economic freedom in our lifetime.

For the EFF to act as the mouthpiece, a catalyst for radical change, it must, as a matter of necessity, cultivate a revolutionary culture; capture the imaginations, aspirations and hopes of the masses. The provision of EFF’s Constitution that relates to the admission of members should be adhered to, and if it is discovered that a man/woman does not appear to accept the creed, faith, the objects, and the rules and discipline of the organization, he/she should not be accepted as a member. Should he/she be discovered later that he/she does not, nothing less than a summary expulsion should be preferred against such a person.

In particular, it should not be forgotten that EFF is an organization of working class and the poor masses, it exists not for its sake but for the class interest of the working class. Therefore leadership of EFF shall be guided by the following values:

EFF elected leader:-

1. 
   Must first and foremost, be someone bias to the poor and the working class people
   

2. 
   Should in no way be associated with the practices that negate working people’s interests
   

3. 
   Should in no way subscribe to feudal or primitive capitalistic tendencies including narrow nationalism and sexist chauvinism,
   

4. 
   Should in no way hold shares in any company or hold directorship in any privately owned enterprise
   

5. 
   Should in no way receive two or more salaries
   

6. 
   Should in no way own rental houses which he/she rents to others
   

7. 
   Should in no way adjudicate in transactions, which are in conflict with these principles
   

We need to have a close relationship with our community structures, created in a form of government or civil society. This will make our political education to be useful and appreciated

There is need for massive interaction with structures of our people in terms of governance, the Community Policing Forums, School Governing Bodies and the Hospital Boards and so on and so forth.

4. ORGANISATIONAL DEMOCRACY


What is organizational democracy, how can it be internalized?
Our ideological orientation is Marxist-Leninist-Fanonian in outlook. It is therefore the responsibility of the nuclear centers to capacitate each and every member of the fighting force in defense of the left. Although EFF is - in its social composition of a wide range of strata and class formation - a vanguard of all protest movements; shall have to maintain strong discipline, democratic centralism, accountable leadership and ensure coherence and unity in action. It should strive to be effective not merely through its own structures and actions but through hegemonic ability to move with the masses.

4.1 Basic Principles of organization building

In order to build a solid, coherent and cohesive movement, the following basic principles must be integral to EFF formation. And they are: Marxist-Leninist- Fanonian line, democratic centralism, principled criticism and self-criticism, collective Leadership, proletarian culture of selflessness, working class solidarity, discipline and self-discipline.

The task of EFF is to immediately carry out the democratization of the organization through theoretical and practical preparations necessary for the establishment of its structures as a revolutionary organization rooted in the ability to appreciate the essence of unity of theory and social practice. The starting point, of necessity, is to educate and train our members around these basic principles.

We have full belief that we have to change the life of all our people and make sure that we have economic freedom in our lifetime. And we need to remain the vanguard movement of the left formations and the masses of the poor. This can be earned through struggle by being part and parcel of the daily struggles of the oppressed masses. Organizational principles are crucial in order to safeguard the unity and credibility of the organization in all circumstances. All these principles, especially collective leadership, must be a lived reality.

This commitment should not be a declaration, but an act borne of conviction and the realization of the sufferings of the poor masses. A conviction, which is, etched deep in the conscience of the people themselves. It should, as a matter of principle stem from our belief and culture, and the people’s aspirations in a form of the Freedom Charter. That people must be their own liberators, commanders and instructors of the marching orders towards victory.

There can be no body cells without nucleus, and likewise, there can be no organization without branches. Branches are first line of defense in the political life of any organization. An organization without branches is like a tree without roots it will just fall away.

What does mass based and vanguard party means, can EFF be both? Given the changed political milieu characterized by massive depoliticization of the populace; erosion of trust in politics and public representatives post-1994, interest to participation in party-politics has drastically declined. Vanguardism espouses a system of organization based on small yet qualitative and theoretically advanced units of cadres whereas a mass party prefers a big and numerically quantitative organization.

Discipline from the point of view of the EFF should not be related to through the lenses other than the revolution itself – ‘a festival of the oppressed masses’. The revolution is inherently ethical and underpinned by moral standards without which the conduct of such would be vacuous and hollow. Revolutionary discipline, it must, of necessity, mean the self-discipline of the individual, set in the context of a strictly prescribed collective activity and conduct equally incumbent upon all. This should be contained in policy line and code of conduct of members of the organization and lead to consistent congruence between its practice and theory.

Without discipline inside the organization, there is no way of undertaking any consequential revolutionary activity at all. In the absence of discipline, the organization falls apart, the revolutionary vanguard cannot exist, for in the case it would find itself in utter disarray in its practice and would be incapable of identifying the tasks of the moment or of living up to the role it has set itself to achieve. Ours must be collective of principles of fraternal discipline: discipline without eyes, without prejudice on the basis of the individual’s background.

5. ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH

Organizations are essentially, mechanisms designed to facilitate and coordinate social, cultural, political and economic relations between human beings and the environment. In building such an organization, it is without saying that the following becomes central tasks which entails a continuous, and constant process of:-

1. 
   Building branches as nucleus of an organization
   
2. 
   Mass mobilization
   
3. 
   Recruitment of members
   
4. 
   Political education and
   
5. 
   Profiling and working the ground
   
6. 
   Security, intelligence and protection of organization, its interests, unity and cohesion
   

The organization will need to develop membership recruitment strategies. Such strategies should be based on a hybrid of elements from which EFF seeks to appeal. Membership recruitment strategy should talk to unique conditions and dynamics of each sector and be designed to respond to.

Furthermore, EFF being a movement for economic emancipation will have to develop a new approach towards its constitutional platforms at ward/branch level. Whether on the basis of its character of mass appeal and working class outlook it should avoid rigidity of strict application of percentage to attain quorum. Whether to depart from a minimalist approach in order to make meetings and attainment of quorum not a anathema but an incentive and motivator and then on a gradual basis, move up gear toward a maximalist approach?

The principles enshrined in the founding manifesto should serve as our guide and non-negotiable document. The harsh reality is, the former liberation movements in particular, the ruling party will be remembered on what it has achieved, EFF as the new economic emancipation movement, will be judged on the basis of what it fails to accomplish!