EFF conduct necessary and warranted

Under normal circumstances the (mis) conduct of the EFF MPs in parliament yesterday over the Nkandla saga should be condemned in the strongest terms by all reasonable citizens of our troubled land. I personally am very critical of the EFF’s antics and their flagrant disrespect for parliamentary protocol and etiquette. I find the EFF’s propensity to barbarous behaviour as a serious cause for concern and incongruent with generally acceptable standards of political conduct. Until yesterday I was of the view that the EFF was made of anarchists hell bent on desecrating the decorum and sanctity of parliament.  

After their antics of yesterday, instead of condemning the EFF, it dawned on me that the conduct of the EFF is very necessary and warranted under the prevailing political climate. Truth of the matter is that under Jacob Zuma and the current crop of so-called leaders of the ANC our beloved country is slowly but surely descending into a lawless banana republic. President Zuma has, with the complicity of the ANC, shown time and again that he does not take the citizens of this country seriously. It is obvious that president Zuma has a totally incorrect concept of what it means to be president of a modern state. He appears to think of himself as a traditional ruler who can do as he pleases without being held to account by his acquiescent subjects. Not too long ago, with his trademark giggle, Zuma told a news conference that the majority of black people were not concerned about Nkandla and that only “clever blacks” were worried about this matter. How arrogant can that be ? It is abundantly clear that the ANC is not serious about accountability and have no real intention to address the Nkandla issue.

I find it very rich for sycophantic ANC functionaries like Zizi Kodwa to accuse the EFF of “not respecting the decorum of parliament” while the ANC itself has never shown any respect to the authority of the institution. For them parliament is important only to the extent that it legitimises their nefarious activities. How many times have we witnessed ANC ministers making dismissive and sarcastic responses to questions from opposition parties to the loud applause and laughter from their praise singing backbenchers. What has the DA and other opposition parties achieved in their “dignified” approach when dealing with the ANC in parliament on issues such as the Guptagate if I may ask.

After the events of yesterday I came to the realization that the EFF, with all their glaring deficiencies and lack of political finesse, are a necessary evil under the current circumstances. They are the useful idiots so to speak. The ANC of today operates like a Mafia organization and to think that their misdeeds can be kept in check strictly through conventional parliamentary procedures is the height of naivette.  The ANC of today has become shamelessly corrupt and arrogant and totally insensitive to the concerns of the South African citizenry. Political morality and the feelings of the public are of no importance to the ANC. To them what matters most is to find the slightest technicality, legal or otherwise, to justify their corrupt machinations.   The appointments of Hlaudi Motsoeneng  to lead a strategic public institution, Zuma’s inexperienced daughter to a very senior government post and the Guptagate  fall guy to a diplomatic post are but just a few examples.

I have decided that from now on I will support the EFF when they raise pertinent issues in parliament. I can only hope that they turn up the heat on Zuma until he stops thinking that this country is his personal fiefdom. I may not always agree with their methods but the stakes are too high that the end justifies the means. It is high time that these ANC crooks are stopped in their tracks and if it takes the EFF to do that so be it.

Tendani Siala                                                         Pretoria