Ahead of local elections, EFF urges South Africans to learn from ‘determined’ Zambians

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has urged South Africans to learn from the people of Zambia, who voted out a long-sitting political party in their quest for a better life.

This after Zambian business tycoon and veteran opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema scored a landslide victory on Monday in bitterly contested presidential elections.

After a campaign dominated by the country’s economic woes and marked by sporadic violence, Hichilema garnered 2,810,757 votes against 1,814,201 for President Edgar Lungu, according to nearly final results.

Lungu conceded defeat, saying he congratulated his “brother… Hichilema for becoming the seventh republican president”.

The EFF has congratulated the people of Zambia, and the ruling party-elect with its leader Hichilema over a landslide victory.

“The victory of opposition in Zambia elections should inspire all opposition parties in Africa to redouble their efforts for democratic regime change against despotic, brutal and corrupt ruling parties.

“We are indeed in jubilation that the opposition party in Zambia has proven that long-time ruling parties are not invincible at the ballot and a determined people will always triumph over evil,” said the EFF in a statement on Monday.

“The resilience of the president-elect in his sixth attempt to democratically depose a ruling party is a lesson for all in the struggle and battles of regime change that there is no shortcut to election victory without patience and a politically conscientised masses. The EFF draws inspiration from the United Party for National Development in Zambia on its relentless fight to achieve its set objective of dethroning a violent military regime peacefully.”

It further urged South Africans and people from other African countries to be as determined as the people of Zambia in their quest for true freedom.

“To the people of South Africa and Africa, let us look up the determination of the people of Zambia in their quest to change their livelihood by removing a long-sitting ruling party.”

The EFF’s statement comes as South Africans prepare to vote for their municipal representatives during the local government elections, proclaimed for 27 October 2021.

However, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has approached the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) on an urgent basis to defer the polls to February 2022, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions.

Additional reporting by Thapelo Lekabe