DURBAN: Firebrand leftist politician Julius Malema on Saturday accused the ruling ANC of neglecting the country’s ills as he launched the party’s electoral campaign ahead of a hotly contested poll that could cost the ruling party its parliamentary majority.

Through the crippling power cuts (locally known as loadshedding) South Africa’s President Cyril “Ramaphosa is continuing to kill our people” he said as he unveiled the party’s manifesto theme: “Our land and jobs now. Stop loadshedding”. He also accused the African National Congress (ANC) of “economic apartheid”.

In a country plagued by an energy crisis, lacklustre economy and high unemployment, some 27.5 million registered South Africans will vote for a new parliament who will then vote in a new president. The election is to be held on a date between May and August.

“We want political power to use it decisively” Malema declared, promising 4 million new jobs and an end power cuts within 6 months in office.

Opposition parties in recent months have been actively seeking to unseat the ANC. The country’s official opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA), which in recent years has struggled to stave off its white, middle-class identity and win over black voters, has formed a coalition with several other groups. But it has refused to join forces with the EFF, citing stark differences.

Renowned for its theatrics, the EFF has gained prominence advocating radical reforms including land redistribution and nationalising key economic sectors to tackle deep inequalities that persist more than three decades after the end of apartheid.

“We are fighting an evil spirit of a white settler inside Ramaphosa,” he accused the country’s president. Describing itself as a “radical and militant economic emancipation movement”, the party draws inspiration from Marxism-Leninism and has notably displayed its support for Russia after the invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2024