In his book I WRITE WHAT I LIKE in the Church As seen by a Young Layman chapter, Steve Biko when writing to religious ministers, postulated that “I am aware that today I am addressing myself to a group of people with whom I differ in two respects: Firstly, I am a layman talking to a group of religious ministers. Secondly I am a young man talking to fairly elderly people”. 

In the same breath, I am writing this from lived experiences as a layman. 

To be young and not participate in politics is a biological contradiction, hence young people participate in politics in various Institutions of higher learning in a form of student activism. However, majority of the said activists in particular members and leaders of the EFF Students Command, which is a Student body of the Economic Freedom Fighters do not translate into EFF numbers or membership after they have graduated from these institutions. At times they do not affiliate with the EFF at all. A majority of the first generation of the Students Command, that is most of those who were elected at the branch and national level are nowhere to be seen in the EFF structures in all the 4 levels of leadership. These are namely BCT, RCT, PCT & CCT structures.

This phenomenon wherein most of the EFFSC members and leaders are not finding expression in mainstream politics, let alone participating in them exposes to some extent the fact that the struggles of student politics are organized and confined to a university or TVET space. For instance, when we go to SRC elections you will for obvious reasons know that students are in their rooms in the various residences, you will know when they are in their lecture classes, when are they in their numbers, when are they on campus and where their off-campus residences are. Over and above that, the space in the university makes it easier for student activists to access them.

It is a known fact that when a student goes to a University or a College, their ultimate goal is to get their qualification. Thus, you are then able to identify their challenges, it is easier to identify challenges in Institutions of higher learning. The University space organizes students for challenges that are common, these challenges include financial exclusion, academic exclusion, funding, allowance accommodation and catering. These challenges already give the EFFSC members and leaders a clear idea on how they should structure their program of action which will entail who must do what at what time. The goal to get a qualification therefore is yet another aspect which organises students.

In Institutions of higher learning it is far much easier for you to become a leader, to be popular on campus, based on the conditions which are there. Another advantage is that students in the university are inclined to issues as they for obvious reasons command some form of clarity. They are able to clarify what is wrong and right hence the need to from time to time induct students on theoretical ideology of the EFF which will of course be based Marxism-Leninism and Fanonian school of thought.

CONTRARY to student activism, community or mainstream politics are very dynamic, they are not stagnant and change rapidly. Students find it difficult to acclimatize to the mainstream politics environment because community politics are not confined to a space but rather many factors such as different needs of various people, demographics, geographic, different age groups.

When students go out into their communities, they are unable to be activists or be active in the EFF due to the fact that they grew up with their neighbors who know them through and through in the sense that they know how they behave, what are their shortcomings. Students are unable to express themselves freely as they do in their University space due to the fact that they spent 18 years in the community waking up, going to school, coming back home, doing their homework, playing with their friends and then coming back home again. This has been their daily routine, unlike in the university where you learn a new culture, make a new routine and ultimately join the EFFSC.

EFFSC members command some form of recognition amongst their peers in their respective Institutions of higher learning to an extent that they are charged with leadership responsibilities. Whereas, in their communities they are regarded as these children who went to study and not necessarily as leaders in their respective Universities. 

The space in the Institutions of higher learning allows most of the students to create new identities. This is in the sense that you can go to University of Pretoria and become “Babes Womzabalzo” but then go home to Mamelodi you are the Naledi Chirwa people grew up knowing. When you attempt to do door to door in the community, some people will start to ask you about your studies, your parents and when are you graduating rather than engaging on the content of the message  when you are canvassing them to vote EFF. This is because they know you as this young brilliant student who went to University, unlike on campus where students are much more interested in the message that you are conveying to them as they do not know much about your upbringing.

There is a disjuncture between student politics and mainstream politics because in the community there are various societal and personal needs. In a community of 10 000 adults, you will get that 2000 is employed thus you cannot speak of employment to them as they are already employed, their needs will be on better working conditions and better salaries, 1000 will be self-employed people who are not interested in working for a person but rather how to get funds to expand their small businesses, 1500 will be elderly people of which some are disabled will need to be taken care of. The remaining 5500 are the employable yet unemployed people who want employment. A student fresh from University will not be able to know what to do as student activism does not prepare him of such realities of our people.

The other fundamental of community politics is service delivery which amongst others include basic services such as water, refuse removal, electricity, sanitation, toilets, recreation etc. A student will not be able to get used to the lingo and environment because to them it is only about showers, running water and hot water not the fundamental issue such as service delivery. Students can only read about the problems linked with service delivery unlike a community activist who knows the suffering of his people through and through hence the EFF Students Command can win a campus during SRC elections and those numbers are not translated or converted to EFF numbers during elections. A typical example is when the EFFSC won North West University Mafikeng Campus SRC elections in August 2018, the EFF did not enjoy those numbers in the May 2020 National General Elections. This is one of the most scientific things that signifies a discord that the EFFSC numbers do not translate to EFF numbers.

Some students after graduating from their respective Institutions of higher learning are not active in their communities because the system already has prepared them to go and work. As a matter of fact the current system designs your entire life, that is you go to Primary School, High School, University or TVET then off to work. In the process you are unable to familiarize yourself with community politics thus end up only being political when you get to the institution of higher learning. After graduating they no longer want to pursue politics but rather are now all about self-actualization. This in the sense that they want to pursue their careers in the cooperate world which at times has working hours from 08H00 to 17H00. After work its family responsibilities and taking a rest, you are unable to find time to participate in mainstream politics.

It is Amical Cabral who teaches us that we must at all material times tell no lies and claim no easy victories subsequently mask no difficulties, mistakes and failures. The leadership and membership of various political parties at times make the conditions not favorable for the young ones to lead let alone to showcase the skills they learnt in the Institutions of higher learning. The old guard is at times unable to comprehend the battles of ideas, feels threatened by a young person who understands and is able to articulate theories such as those of Antonia Gramsci, Michael Focault, Thomas Hobbes, Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Mao Tse Tung. They then make the conditions unbearable for the young ones to occupy the space or to find expression in mainstream politics

In a nutshell, the science of logic over the art of rhetoric prevails in mainstream politics. It does not matter how fluently speak the English language, how good you are in dialectical materialism of Karl Marx or how good you are in terms of theory. Practice prevails over theory hence the discord between student activism and mainstream politics. 

Justice Dabampe is the Regional Secretary of the EFF in Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati Region, North West

Philosophers such as Michel de Montaigne mention that before making a judgement, one has to assess/diagnose the situation, one has to have insight and experience, vision, rhetorical skill, charisma/ deliberation, timing, and be a responsible leader. I wish to briefly elaborate on those skills, capacities, and forms of interaction that are needed in order for good political judgement, something which will perhaps give light of the actions of the EFF over the course of their 6 years since formation – to observe whether or not they judge well.

Insight and experience

 When leaders (or even ordinary citizens) lookout onto the world they encounter arguments, facts, values, and opinions etc. that characterise politics. What insight and experience gives us is the capacity to see through all that is laid in front of us and to pick out things which are more salient. In a way, what an individual is doingis “skilfully choosing models and theories of reality to use in a certain context and then assess them for their usefulness”. One can’t deny that the EFFs leaderships schooling and the fact that most of them were part of the ANC allow them to use their experience and insight to counter the ruling party.

Vision

 Vision is used to see where to go and to potentially imagine things outside of the box of the current way of thinking. One can suggest that the EFF has a clear vision, given initiatives such as the ‘EFF Legacy Project’ (which includes community outreach projects and sending the disenfranchised to school), the tireless work of mobilizing the ground, and even more recently their project of educating the masses via the EFF Book Club).

Rhetorical skill

 Leaders can have the vision, insight and experience, however, what is also needed is to bring those around you to see that one’s judgement about what is most salient and where to proceed is best and sound. This requires the capacity to make a good speech or to draw people in and persuade them. (I don’t need to spend too much time on this one because when the EFF speaks, everyone listens).

Deliberation.

•   Politics is ultimately about a deliberative process. One of the examples of a process of deliberation is what is seen in the South African parliament where an individual puts an opinion forward based on facts, then someone else counters it.
•   The EFF has been able to change the face of parliament through robust engagements.

Timing

•   Timing refers to the ability of knowing when to act. It is to know what is possible, and at what point in time. Timing is also about being realistic with regards to what is possible.
•   The EFF have been successful partly as a result of grasping moments of weakness in the opposition. Secondly, since the party announces itself as a “government-in- waiting”, it keeps laying its foundation by mobilizing the ground and recruiting the masses. Moreover, the party has integrated themselves into most, if not every corner of the country, pulling whatever group or whoever is keen on listening to the gospel of economic emancipation.Responsible leadership

•   In simple terms it is to be responsible for a particular judgement. Every judgement is preceded by action, which in turn produces consequences. In democratic politics, leaders are (at least it ought to be) held accountable on the basis of the idea that citizens passed up the right for a leader to make decisions, and which if in-turn does not end up looking like what was initially promised, then the leader faces being replaced with someone else.
•   The EFF has called for many leaders to fall on their sword. Moreover, the EFF views economic emancipation as a necessity based on the fact that ‘20 years after the attainment of formal political freedom, the black people of South Africa still live in absolute mass poverty, are landless, their children have no productive future, they are mistreated and they are looked down upon in a sea of wealth.’Individuals/organizations that apply good judgement are those that apply the above- mentioned skills, capacities, and forms of interaction to whatever circumstances they are in. All this to say that the EFF shouldn’t be misunderstood. The party just has a sense of how modern society can be arranged and organized to initiate, facilitate, and continue the progress of humanity – and understands good political judgement or knows how to judge well in politics.