What doesn’t wound the EFF could make it stronger

The list of court cases faced by EFF leader Julius Malema and some of his fellow commissars is growing. There are many who will hope that these cases weaken him and bring an end to what they see as his ignoble crusade. However, the exact opposite could occur: the cases may increase Malema’s power, by allowing him to show that he is fighting “whiteness” in all its forms.

On Wednesday 20 November, Malema and EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi appeared in court on a charge of assault. The two are accused of assaulting a white uniformed police officer during the funeral of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in 2018. They deny the charges.

Outside the court, Malema was quoted by TimesLIVE as saying, “I’ve never done that. If I laid a hand on him, I would have panel-beaten him. I don’t play when I lay a hand. I didn’t do that. Mbuyiseni didn’t do that. All we were fighting for was to enter the cemetery and go and bury our mother.”

This could backfire badly.

Malema tries to portray that he is the only person prepared to fight “whiteness”. The constant replaying of the video may demonstrate that Malema and Ndlozi, and the EFF in general, are prepared to do what no other politician does – push white people around.

There are many black people in South Africa who have been pushed around, physically and otherwise, by white people. Very few have ever pushed around white people, physically or otherwise.

At a time when it appears that there has been very little change in our society, and when racialised inequality and economic apartheid are still the dominant features of the economy, this may well have a powerful resonance.

It also plays into Malema’s longer-term strategy.

It can sometimes be forgotten how deep the wounds inflicted by apartheid run.

The appointment of André de Ruyter, a white man, as CEO of Eskom has brought elements of this damage to the surface. There are some, such as Malema and certain members of the ANC, who have focused only on his racial identity. It was to be expected that De Ruyter’s appointment would lead to this reaction. It is also easy to write it off as just politics, that “of course” Malema and some in the ANC would oppose his appointment.

Perhaps the most important line in his piece is this: “I have accepted that I will never catch up to my old white classmates.”

The contribution of Mondi to South Africa cannot be underestimated. He was chief economist at the Industrial Development Corporation and now lectures at Wits. And yet he, who will no doubt be seen by some as relatively privileged, has still not been able to catch up to those who were once his peers.

This must be galling for someone who has made the contribution he has.

He is not alone. There are millions of people who look around and see that they have still not been able to “catch up”, to amass as much wealth as white people have.

It is this that Malema seeks to exploit.

For him, the courts are a fantastic site of struggle. He may be able to convince some that the courts are controlled by white people who are not properly transformed — that a black person will not get a fair hearing in a court.

So, even if he loses, and inevitably appeals, he will be hoping this increases his political power.

“We supported the DA and it’s their turn now to support the EFF; it’s only fair. Why should we always support the white man? Why can’t the white man find it in himself to support a black man?”

Malema obviously knows that, but he is portraying it in starkly racial terms. That is where his advantage lies.

The court docket is filling up with Malema cases: this assault charge, his alleged firing of an assault rifle at a rally in the Eastern Cape, and possibly even the VBS Bank looting. But they may leave him stronger.

Unless, of course, there is a testimony that proves he is corrupt – and that black people were the victims of that corruption. Anyone mentioned VBS? DM