An EFF supporter raises a flag during a march outside the house of the late Winnie Mandela in Orlando West, Johannesburg, 3 April 2018. EFF members gathered outside the house to celebrate and pay tribute to Winnie Mandela. Picture: Yeshiel Panchia
On the 24th anniversary of Freedom Day, the EFF in a statement said it rejected the narrative that in “1994 black South Africans attained freedom simply because they were included in the voting processes in South Africa”.
Spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said the main point of the struggle had been “the return of the land”.
“This is the reason the liberation movement was formed following the defeat of our people in the colonial wars of land dispossession.
“There is therefore no freedom, politically and economically, without the land. The indignity suffered by black people for centuries of white minority rule has to do with land dispossession. The entire colonial and apartheid systems were about maintaining black people in a permanent state of landlessness and land hunger so that they always live on their knees bagging existence from white people.
“Through pass laws, forced removals, the creation of townships and homelands the apartheid government was denying black people the dignity of access to the land.
“The land is the alpha and omega of freedom, therefore until we have the land, we remain in the indignity of being foreigners in the country of our birth. This means voting is useless and it will always be meaningless if we do not have the land. All freedom must be founded on the land because human rights begin and end with the land: Without the land, there is no dignity, and there is no dignity without the land.
“We, therefore, call on land expropriation without compensation for equal redistribution. The South African constitution must be amended to allow this process to take place peacefully and in adherence to the rule of law.”
They said they would only consider Freedom Day as living up to its name once “our people have land so as to truly have the ability to call this country their home”.
They called on voters to choose a government that “will ensure land expropriation without compensation, nationalisation of mines and banks, a massive state-led industrialisation, free quality healthcare, housing, and sanitation. This is because political freedom without economic freedom is meaningless.”
They also called for the intensification of the struggle against patriarchy, misogyny and sexism.
“We call on society to fight against rape and violence against women, in particular, the girl child.
“There is no economic or political freedom until women enjoy total emancipation from patriarchal violence and rape. On this day, we renew our vow to fight against the male and masculine driven war on women and their bodies.
“Women too must be allowed to own their country through direct ownership of the land. They have to live on this land without any fear of patriarchal violence, rape and masculine domination.”
They called for government to give amnesty to all Fees Must Fall activists who were still in custody or facing trial.
“We also call on all universities to grant the expelled Fees Must Fall activists amnesty, including the Rhodes University anti-rape activists who were expelled for protests. All these activists must be freed, re-integrated back into society and universities so they can complete their studies and contribute to the country’s development. “
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