The 2014 elections have come and gone, leaving some interesting developments in its wake. The ANC recorded an expected victory but with a reduced percentage of the total vote, receiving 62.15% as against its 65.9% in the 2009 election. This translates into a nett loss of approximately 690000 votes, besides taking account that the percentage poll overall also fell from 77.3% in 2009 to 73.47% in 2014.  The conservative Democratic Alliance, politically to the right of the ANC, but less corrupt, increased its share of the vote from 16% in 2009  to just over 22%.  It also delivered a sound beating to the ANC in the Western Cape where the latter boasted it would regain control. The ANC also suffered a significant loss of votes in Gauteng province where its share fell from 64% in 2009  to the now 53.63%. Here again the DA achieved the biggest increase in its share of the vote.

Before one can draw any conclusions from these figures it is necessary to examine the success of the new comer, the Economic Freedom Fighters party (EFF).    This party, which arose out of the aims and ambitions of disgruntled members of the ANC Youth League, who enjoyed a lavish and profligate lifestyle they were afforded there, until they became an embarrassment which could no longer be swept under the carpet. They were then summarily expelled or suspended. Previously they had shouted that they “would die for Zuma”  but now they reserved their greatest wrath for he who had kicked them out and he who has been tied up in his Nkandla homestead scandal. It is difficult to accept their transition from being loyal ANC members who faithfully followed the Freedom Charter, to their apparent left-sounding program of nationalising the mines and seizing white-owned farmland without compensation. They further profess to being inspired by the policies of Hugo Chavez and the supposedly leftist policies of Robert Mugabe. But the big question remains:  who has been  funding  the EFF? They were able to launch a large-scale campaign with well-organised rallies across the country. It is also reported that party leader, Julius Malema had the facility of costly helicopter transport from one point to the next. The funds spent by the EFF in their campaign could hardly have been derived from the under-employed and unemployed youth who constitute the vast majority of its membership.  As noted in an earlier article of ours, a possible motive for the funding of the EFF could have been operative amongst certain wealthy individuals and business concerns who felt the need to embarrass the Jacob Zuma cabal by cutting into the vote of the ANC. This has partly been achieved. But yet another factor has to be considered. In the aftermath of the Marikana massacre, the bitter farm worker strikes in the Western Cape and then the break with tripartite alliance loyalties by the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa, a potential movement for the establishment of a left-wing front or even a mass workers party could not be ignored. With its left sounding populist rhetoric the EFF has partially succeeded in deflecting attention from the building of a left-wing movement with possibly widespread appeal.

There were those on the left who became excited about the formation of the EFF and the size of its support that it attracted. Hence, the talk of a potential alliance with the EFF  – “we can learn from them how they have managed to build widespread support in a short space of time.” These individuals now have to face the possibility that they were bluffed into becoming pawns of those with entirely different motives. The EFF now goes to parliament with about 25 seats. Here it will not be possible for them to rely on bluster and insults to further their aims and the likelihood is that they will become “pragmatic”, supporting the ANC against the DA wherever possible. They may even go to the extent of giving the ANC the necessary two-thirds majority to change the constitution so as to limit the powers of the judiciary. After all, they have alleged that they too have been victims of a biased judiciary. But building a left-wing movement outside of parliament is hardly on its agenda. They remain the disgruntled supporters of a basic and fraudulent  ANC ideology.

Another consequence of the rise of the EFF is the possible death of the financially bankrupt ANC Youth League. What is left of the old ANCYL leadership and what is new consists of those who are politely toadying up to Zuma.  It can no longer boast a role of bringing fresh ideas into the ANC and much less can it now claim to be the ANC king maker.  Similarly, the role of the South African Communist Party can also now be called into question.

 In the mean time Jacob Zuma still has to answer for Nkandla. Then, he will also have to answer his remark shortly before the elections that only “bright  (or clever) people” have been concerned with the Nkandla spending. This speaks of a man who regards the mass of the voting population as not so bright and they can easily be fobbed off with cheap answers for massive fraud.

The result of the “vote no” campaign, called for by ANC stalwart, Ronnie Kasrils and a few supporters, may also be noted. This was not anti-ANC campaign, but rather an effort to bring the current leadership of the ANC back to greater acceptability. This campaign had  hardly any  impact, showing that those who voted for the ANC are still under the illusion that it was an organisation that led the liberation struggle and that its leadership problems can be settled internally. Then there was the electoral effort of the newly formed Workers and Socialist Party (WASP), established under the aegis of the Democratic Socialist Movement. The WASP shunned an alliance with other bodies unless it was in charge. It received only a tiny fraction of the total vote, 0.05%,  showing that a sectarian approach to the struggle cannot succeed. Finally, a peculiar result of this election has been the decision of the militant shack dwellers’ movement, Abahali baseMjondolo,  to lend tactical support to the DA, which is just as neo-liberal, if not more so than the ANC. Previously, it has been virulent in its opposition to all political parties, according to the argument that they all inevitably become corrupt upon receiving a measure of power. It previously called stridently for a boycott of ALL elections. We are keen to know whether its anarchistic proponents will argue that its new stance demonstrates democracy from below.