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EFF CENTRAL COMMAND TEAM REFLECTED ON THE 2025 YEAR
CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS ONLINE_EDITOR©®™
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) held its 4th Central Command Team (CCT) meeting of the 3rd National People’s Assembly, at the Zebula Golf Estate in BelaBela, from the 5th to the 7th of December 2025.
The Central Command Team reflected on the Year 2025 in relation to organizational growth, governance and with regards to the ability of the organization to champion grassroots struggles of ordinary people and struggling communities.
The theme of the EFF in 2025 was the Year of the Picket Lines, and it was a resounding success, which reaffirmed the EFF as the weapon of the poor and an enemy of domestic and global capital. This year, we demonstrated that our struggle does not end at the picket line; it advances directly into the chambers of Parliament, where we translate the people's demands into legislative action. We decided to internalize as a matter of fact, the guidance of Cabral, who taught us that "every practice produces a theory," and that "nobody has yet made a successful revolution without a revolutionary theory". Our actions, therefore, are a conscious and unapologetic application of this truth.
The CCT was further appraised on the key resolution taken by the 3rd National People’s Assembly, which was to dissolve Regional Structures which were not fit for purpose and instead establish sub-regional structures across the country’s municipalities.
Further to this, a key organizational achievement for 2025 was the launch of the EFF Youth Command, succeeding the Students' Command. This strategic reorganization, resolved upon by the 3rd National People’s Assembly, consolidates our youth leadership and empowers the next generation of Fighters for the battles ahead, including the crucial 2026 Local Government Elections.
As of today, out of the 224 sub-regions in the country, the EFF has successfully set-up 184 sub-regional structures which represents an 82% completion rate towards having structures across the nation. We must applaud the successful early launches of Sub-Regional People's Assemblies in provinces such as Limpopo and Mpumalanga because they stand as testament to the disciplined execution of this mandate. These are an incredible achievement considering it was the first attempt at establishing these structures and all sub-regional people’s assemblies convened without a single incident of violence or bloodshed, and were all independently funded by sub-regional interim leadership cores and Commissars who were deployed in the sub-regions.
The CCT wishes to further congratulate the following provinces for reaching the 100% target, meaning they launched all their sub-regions successfully. The provinces are, Limpopo, Free State, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and North West. This must be commended as it is an example of fulfilling the constitutional obligation in the EFF of completing a mandated task as expected. The CCT is further pleased with the patient work being done to build genuine and organic structures in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Western Cape, which are areas where the EFF has shown great potential, particularly in the 2024 National Government Elections. Particularly, the work in KZN has shown us that there continues to exist an appetite for the organisation in the province and such work must not be rushed and manipulated for compliance purposes as we witnessed ahead of the elections in 2024.
It is on the foundation of strong organisational structures that the EFF will turn its electoral fortunes around in the 2026 Local Government Elections, and we wish to salute all delegates, members and ground forces who formed part of our structures from voting district to a branch level for delivering successful people’s assemblies. As the Central Command Team reflected on the year, we made key observations on a successful organisational presence on the streets to demand the dignity of our people but additionally on the qualitative contributions made in government.
The EFF Parliamentary Caucus was an example of excellence for the EFF and has improved in leaps and bounds, as in each and every committee and all matters of national importance the EFF was a leading figure. Our vigilance extended across all departments, including our robust engagement in the Defence Budget Vote, where we demanded accountability for military spending and the welfare of veterans.
The defeat of the Value Added Tax (VAT) increases which were proposed by the Government of National Unity (GNU) earlier this year, through logical and superior debate by the EFF in the Standing Committee on Finance, the National Assembly and ultimately the Western Cape High Court remains a historical achievement for the organisation. It was for the first time that the budget process was subjected to intense scrutiny and revision, and National Treasury’s neo-liberal and austeritybased budgeting was confronted by the EFF utilising the Money Bills and relevant legislation to protect poor and middle-class people. This victory is not an isolated event but a critical battle in our enduring war against the neoliberal economic framework—a framework that we have sought to dismantle since our inception and fought through our struggle for the nationalization of mines, banks, and other strategic sectors.
Despite collusion by parties within and outside of the GNU to manipulate the South African people by making commitments which were not grounded in law, it took the EFF’s relentless efforts in Parliament and through court action to defeat taxation without consultation. To date, the commitment to provide alternative revenue generation mechanisms by the GNU and its allies in the form of small political parties has not materialized, and instead our people have been subjected to an increase in the fuel levy.
The EFF will be vigilant in the 2026 budgeting process and will make sure we defend our people against regressive taxation, austerity, and a budget that represents stagnant growth and does nothing to address massive unemployment. The Parliamentary Caucus of the EFF cemented its place as the Official Opposition in Parliament on various critical matters of national importance, which includes exposing corruption in SETA board appointments and undermining the capture of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), by the proxies of the former liberation movement. Following the 2024 National Government Elections wherein the ANC lost political power, it became clear that they wanted to substitute their losses of seats in Parliament by capturing state institutions for cadre deployment and looting.
It was the EFF which stood in their way, ensuring that corrupt appointments in SETA’s were reversed and ultimately leading to the resignation of the first Minister of Higher Education of the GNU who was deployed by the ANC, meaning we determined the deployment protocol of the ANC. Further to this, we stood in the way of the capture of the NYDA by the children of the corrupt who had lined up mediocre and fraudulent individuals to Chair the NYDA and steal money meant for youth development. In the fight against crime, the EFF has been at the forefront of ensuring the Executive does not hold itself accountable, while it is embedded in the corruption and capture of law enforcement agencies.
Furthermore, due to a sustained EFF motion, the nation has now embarked on crucial public hearings to investigate and address the pervasive crisis of statutory rape—a stain that must blot our national consciousness. It cannot be that this scourge that saw more than 117,000 girls aged 10-19 give birth in a single year, can be allowed to continue right under our noses and without any criminal repercussions. As much as we support the work of the Madlanga Commission it remains a mechanism established by the Executive and led by the Judiciary. The legislature is a separate arm of the State which has its own Constitutional obligations to hold the Executive accountable, and it cannot do so by relying on other arms of the state to do work which is within its jurisdiction.
Through the EFF the following Committees have been established to investigate and subvert crime:
a) The Ad Hoc Committee to investigate allegations into the capture of law enforcement made by Lt General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi
b) The Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate Senseless Killings in the City of Cape Town. It was the EFF that further called for the establishment of an Ad-Hoc Committee to investigate extortion in South Africa, particularly in the Western Cape, Gauteng, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. This motion was defeated by the major political parties in the GNU which govern these provinces either individually or through a provincial coalition.
To date, despite the desperate hopes by our naysayers, the EFF has not been implicated in any way, shape or form in the capture of law enforcement agencies or in the undermining of state institutions for purposes of crime or corruption. It is for this reason that we speak fearlessly and without favour against crime and are able to champion investigations into crime by legislative bodies who hold that mandate given to them by the electorate.
We are building a movement conscious of Fanon's warning about the failures of past revolutions. We reject the path of a self-serving "nationalist bourgeoisie" whose party becomes "a true instrument of power in the hands of the bourgeoisie" that immobilizes the people. Our mission is and will always be different. We have introduced numerous pieces of legislation to eradicate corruption and the continued subjecting of our people and nation to debt, and our people to indignity.
Bills introduced by the EFF include the South African Reserve Bank Amendment Bill, the Insourcing Bill, the Public Finance Management Amendment Bill, the Liquor Amendment Bill, the Student Debt Cancellation Bill are all bills which have been introduced or reintroduced in Parliament in 2025 by the EFF. These legislative instruments are the weapons we carry in the pursuit of our 'Year of the Picket Lines,' designed to directly answer the grievances of the poor, the workers, and the students that we stand with. These bills are all at advanced stages and will rescue our nation’s fiscal policy from determination by foreign shareholding which has no interest in our developmental needs, they will release our country from the corrupt tendering system practiced by state institutions, the bills will put an end to the surrendering of our sovereignty to foreign financial institutions, they will put an end to the popularizing of alcohol through advertising, and they finally put an end to sacrificing of students to crippling debt.
The EFF has additionally exhibited superior performance in local government where we have been able to secure positions of government within Mayoral Executives, particularly in the Cities Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini and Nelson Mandela Bay.
We must commend these MMC’s as in Johannesburg we have seen a crackdown on crime, drug syndicates and illegal occupations of buildings led by the EFF MMC for Public Safety. Additionally, the EFF MMC for Health in the City of Johannesburg has established the first state of the art 24-hour clinic inthe city, while leading important initiatives to promote primary healthcare and disease prevention.
In Tshwane the MMC for Environment and Agriculture has led a revival of the City, turning it into one of the cleanest cities in South Africa from the township to the CBD, and our MMC of Health has rooted out shops which sell food which is a threat to our people’s lives, shut down brothels and outlets which abuse young women and has led the establishment of the New Lusaka Clinic in Mamelodi whose construction has been delayed since 2017.
In Ekurhuleni our MMC for Water leads a responsive City which save millions of litres of water by fixing leakages and has been leading in the commissioning of new water reservoirs in Ekurhuleni, as opposed to the 59-municipalities flagged by the auditor general for spending R2.3 billion on water tankers. It was an EFF motion which led to a resolution by the City of Ekurhuleni Council to insource 700 cleaners and 290 Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department Officers, a motion which was allocated its rightful budget this year of 2025. In Ethekwini Municipality the EFF Chairperson of the Human Settlements, Engineering, and Transport portfolio has focused his attention at building houses for people who are displaced due to natural disasters and are living in unsafe areas and has revitalised bridges in a City that continues to struggle with damaged infrastructure due to floods.
It was the EFF in Nelson Mandela Bay Council, led by the EFF MMC for Budget and Treasury who following a declaration by the President cleared the debt of Ekuphumleni Old Age Home in Zwide, which amounted to R3.3 million. The EFF continues to run clearances of debt for indigent communities in Nelson Mandela Bay.
It was the EFF in the Buffalo City Metro which defended vulnerable people whose homes were being demolished after they had built them using hard-earned money and subsequently secured a court interdict to stop the evictions which were being done without providing an alternative accommodation for the residents.
Our governance track record is one that will guide our 2026 Local Government Elections strategy and at the centre of this strategy will be people and service delivery. The decision to dissolve the EFF Students’ Command and establish the EFF Youth Command has proven to be a correct decision by the 3rdNational People’s Assembly, and we now see the EFF Youth commanding a presence in communities and campuses. The dissolution has been able to maintain the strength of the EFF in Universities and TVET Colleges, with major victories in institutions such as the University of Witwatersrand, Durban University of Technology, Mangosuthu University of Technology, University of Venda, University of Limpopo, Walter Sisulu University, University of Pretoria, Cape Peninsula University of Technology and many more across the country. In by-elections, the EFF has maintained a steady increase across the country as the EFF continues to contest even in areas where others would dare not consider to. The commitment by the EFF to not selectively contest by-elections based on narrow and divisive ethnic mobilisation emphasises our identity as a party with a national footprint, which is registering growth in an environment of fewer byelections and low voter turnouts.
Electoral science shows us that the EFF is not only maintaining its base, but breaking new ground and gaining votes outside of our traditional voter base and within the suburban and middle-class communities.
Our desks, namely the EFF Gender Based ViolenceDesk and the EFF Labour Desk continue to be avenues where our people receive the necessary assistance when they fall victim to gender based violence, failures by law enforcement to follow up on cases and with regards to Labour, the Labour Desk has become a place of refuge for workers. The EFF remains the only organisation that holds the President of the Republic of South Africa accountable, while most of the political party'saudition for a seat at the GNU table.
The Phala Phala matter, which was covered up using a Parliamentary majority in an irrational manner that undermines the Constitution is still at the Constitutional Court, a year after the EFF took it on review. This goes against the Norms and Standards of our Courts which dictate that judgements must be handed down within 3-months of a matter being heard. The EFF correctly led the Phala Phala March to the ConCourt to demand the release of the judgement and the continued delay justifies claims by those who say the judiciary is compromised and captured, and if the final arbiters allow the President of the Republic to be above the law, then that will signal the end of our democracy. The 6th administration of Parliament has become an arena of excellence for the EFF, and 2026 we will intensify all efforts to ensure that the people of South Africa know that they did not waste their votes when they elected the EFF to represent them.
We know our duties and our mandate in Parliament, and we will fulfil it to the best of our ability. Every action that we take is guided by our unwavering commitment to our Seven Cardinal Pillars—the revolutionary and living compass that has directed our struggle since our founding.
The current GNU has failed to grow the economy and create jobs in successive quarters, and this is underlined by stagnant economic activity, the collapse of industrial capacity and the entrenchment of mass unemployment.
Economic growth for 2025 sat at 0.5% across all three quarters, while more than 11 million of our people remain jobless. This is not an accident of history, nor a statistical anomaly. It is a deliberate outcome of a political arrangement whose purpose is to protect a colonial economic architecture, while denying the black majority access to productive participation in the economy. This arrangement is what Fanon identified as the core blockage on the horizon: "What matters today, the issue which blocks the horizon, is the need for a redistribution of wealth". The GNU exists to prevent this redistribution. The GNU is not a break from the past, it is a continuation of an agenda that predates the 2024 elections. Under the illusion of renewal, the GNU reaffirms the same neoliberal commitments that have suffocated our country for a decade.
They have chosen austerity over industrialisation, outsourcing over state capacity, privatisation over developmental governance, and foreign dependency over domestic resilience. The result is predictable: stagnant growth, crumbling infrastructure, collapsing state-owned entities and an economy defined by extraction without production. The GNU governs as though the working class is disposable. It has reversed the hard-won gains of labour and reduced economic dignity to a privilege reserved for the elites.
Workers now face a cruel binary — accept wages that guarantee poverty, or remain unemployed indefinitely. In either case, capital triumphs while communities suffocate. This is not development; it is structural exclusion.
The EFF recognizes that the GNU's failure is the logical conclusion of a system that is ripe for transformation. As Karl Marx and Frederick Engels remind us, "Of all the classes that stand face to face with the bourgeoisie today, the proletariat alone is really the revolutionary class." It is this revolutionary class—the workers, the landless, the unemployed—that our party is organized to lead. There is no industrial policy, no serious programme for localisation, no commitment to build productive capacity, and no vision to mobilise domestic capital towards manufacturing, agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, energy or rail. Instead, the GNU waits passively for foreign investors who will never industrialise this country, while the Public Investment Corporation, the largest allocator of capital on the continent, props up sectors owned by the white establishment.
The state refuses to lead development because doing so threatens the interests of the few who designed this coalition. Municipalities are collapsing because they are treated as trading companies rather than developmental institutions. Transnet, Eskom, Denel and SAA are being hollowed out. Infrastructure spending is insufficient to stimulate demand. Budgeting remains a ritual of austerity, driven by ideological obedience rather than developmental logic. The GNU has tabled budgets that reproduce inequality, deepen unemployment and suppress social mobility.
Every opportunity to stimulate growth, expand public capacity and ignite job creation has been ignored. By all developmental metrics, the GNU has failed. It has failed the poor, it has failed workers, it has failed the youth, and it has failed the nation. What we confront is not a governance crisis alone; it is an ideological crisis rooted in a refusal to abandon a colonial economic logic that protects the powerful at the expense of the dispossessed.
The GNU cannot grow the economy because it has no developmental imagination, no structural capability and no commitment to transforming ownership patterns. South Africa deserves leadership capable of building, not outsourcing; industrializing, not privatizing; empowering, not excluding. Only a developmental agenda anchored by the state can reverse this decline and restore dignity to our people.
The EFF has taken note of the rise of US-imperialism and fascism under the Donald Trump administration, which is engaged in in war crimes against people domestically and internationally. The onslaught on the people of Venezuela for the sole and admitted purpose of taking over Venezuela’s oil refineries, the manipulation of the electoral process in numerous elections in Latin America, the disruptive role of Donald Trump in the Middle East, including threats to colonise the Gaza Strip after funding the genocide of Palestinians, has resulted in the EFF correctly characterizing Donald Trump as a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler.
We recently condemned in the strongest terms the disgraceful and politically motivated decision by FIFA to award Donald Trump a so-called 'FIFA Peace Prize,' an act which represents a direct violation of FIFA's own regulations and an endorsement of modern-day fascism. His attempt at unilaterally inviting and un-inviting countries to the G20 simply because of his political interests further confirms the assessment that Donald Trump is the new Hitler that the world is faced with, and failure to recognise this reality will result in devastating consequences for the global political and economic order.
The EFF reiterates its continued call for global solidarity against Donald Trump and his reckless policies including trade, tariff and foreign policy which is underpinned by a desire for war and sustaining of an economy built on military strength and imperialism, rather than economic cooperation. Our stance is rooted in our foundational Pan-Africanist ideology, which demands African unity and resistance to all forms of neo-colonialism and imperialism. The continent, the diaspora and the world should cease from presenting themselves as subjects at the Oval Office, in order to pledge loyalty to a fascist.
The first sign of resistance to the fascism of Donald Trump would arise at the coming G20 meeting, and contrary to the overly diplomatic stance of the South African government, the EFF calls for a boycott of the G20 in Miami, Florida, if South Africa is not allowed as a founding Member as a result of a declaration by Donald Trump. The world has defeated fascism through solidarity, and there is no diplomacy with fascism, and we must unite now or perish.
The EFF wishes the people of South Africa a blessed and happy festive season, which must be characterized by love for those who are less fortunate. During this festive season, let us keep in mind and in prayer those who continue to live under oppression and conflict, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia and Palestine. Let us strengthen our resistance as communities to gangsterism in the Cape Flats, and to violence which has overcome our communities leading to rampant murders, rape and gender-based violence.
The EFF calls on the people of South Africa to celebrate this festive season responsibly and avoid drinking and driving and conflicts inspired by alcohol abuse. To Fighters and Ground Forces, let us protect our communities and recover for the war to come in 2026, and that war will begin as soon as the year begins with the Umntana Eskolweni Campaign and the Sizofunda Ngenkani Campaign. Education is the future of our nation and our continent, and the EFF must be at the forefront of ensuring that no child is denied access to education because they cannot afford.
We fully embrace the responsibility of our historical moment, determined as ever to fulfill the unyielding mission of our generation.
Therefore, as we stare into the promise of a new year, we refuse to blink, until we step closer to achieving the feat of economic freedom in our lifetime.
Let us be safe as the task in 2026 to remove the corrupt and incompetent government in our municipalities is an urgent one, and it demands that our fighters, dare not fail, in this revolutionary mission!
I thank you,
Julius Sello Malema
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