EFF ‘support will grow’ but is it enough to beat ANC or DA?

Despite the recent show of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) at its 10th anniversary celebrations, political analysts believe this will not necessarily turn into votes for the party which will allow it to overtake the ANC or the Democratic Alliance (DA) in next year’s general election.

EFF leader Julius Malema has, however, argued that independent research showed that the party was growing.

He said analysts were always criticising his party.

“Research has shown that the EFF in the Western Cape is going to pass the ANC and that will translate into success. When we did the campaign of one million members and then we would lose by-elections ‘in some places, they would say where are those one million people?’ They never find a way of complimenting a good thing. EFF electoral support will grow,” he said.

“If you look at the result everywhere, be it Mangaung, even when the EFF loses elections, it is right at the neck of the ANC. There is no significant decline that suggests the EFF is going to lose elections. By-elections are the most attractive boring elections which people do not turn up for, even on that one, the EFF has demonstrated its capacity of growing strength.

“There are no by-elections in South Africa where the EFF doesn’t contest, whether it gets zero, we are going to contest because for us it’s an organisational training ground. We are training and preparing our structures that they are familiar with.”

Political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe said the display at FNB Stadium was a statement that the party “is here and they are growing”.

Seepe said people should be realistic about the EFF taking power after 2024.

“Parties grow fast in the beginning and then you have slow growth. The EFF came with eight percent when it started, then it went up to 10%. The growth is going to be there, but it will not be so much that it topples the ANC,” he said.

“The ANC remains a big party whether people like it or not. It still commands huge support because of its social capital. It is in the hearts of most people. I still want to say it is not the ANC that is the problem, but the ANC leaders who are the problem.”

Another political analyst, Dr Ntsikelelo Breakfast, has argued that no political party in the country at the moment could win the elections alone, except the ANC.

Breakfast said the DA was currently sitting at 20% in the research and the EFF at 10%, meaning there was no way it could jump over 50% overnight.

“There is no way the EFF can win the elections outright but it can improve,” he said.

“I am not sure if it can even remove the DA from its position of being the main opposition party. However, the EFF is a force to be reckoned with.”