The EFF 'hooligans' in Parliament...

“Who are these idiots who voted for the ANC and the EFF?” I heard this question in passing while the election results were trickling in. The aftermath of the elections has been focused on a few issues but I would like to focus on these two:

– Does the EFF have what it takes to be in Parliament?
– Why would the poor majority of people (read “stupid”) vote for the ANC again?

Conversations about what it means for Parliament to have newcomers have been cringe-worthy. The main question has been centred on what the EFF leaders will wear at the opening of Parliament. It’s one thing to host a party and a few rallies, but do EFF leaders have the decorum and intelligence worthy of Parliament? Both these sentiments are based on very dangerous assumptions that undermine the EFF’s potential. Clearly the EFF is more popular than we think. And whether it got its votes from Cope supporters and the few voters in Gauteng who are sick of the ANC, the point is, the party got the votes and it is going to Parliament.

The obsession with their regalia once in Parliament has been interesting. Trying to shift the “western norms” about what an MP should wear seems as though they have already started being rabble-rousers and making everyone uncomfortable about the decorum the house deserves. We like to think of Parliament as a cathedral that should be approached with the same reverence. But now with the EFF, it’s going to turn into a “mad house”. Other euphemisms I’ve head: “Parliament is going to be interesting with the EFF” or “Parliament will never be the same again” implying the EFF will shake things up, but what to what end? Will they participate accordingly with all the processes in Parliament? Do they even know how Parliament works?

The EFF seems very confident that it has what it takes. In an interview on PowerFM, advocate Dali Mpofu was confident about the EFF’s capabilities. The EFF has also been undermined and dismissed as the “disgruntled offshoot of the ANCYL” and Mpofu’s presence is there “to keep an eye on the young lions”. This sounds like a conspiracy theory but is another attempt to undermine and discredit any gains of the EFF.

I am not a fan of the EFF and one would be foolish to think that the 20-something seats they have can dent anything in comparison with the more than 200 seats for the ANC. By treating the EFF like a petulant toddler that just wants to get its way all the time and wear what it wants to pre-school, we are giving the EFF ammunition to use against us should the party get things right in Parliament. The EFF seems to represent some of the fears about the “angry blacks” taking over and “unsavoury” characters such as Julius Malema tarnishing the image of Parliament with his big mouth and “uncouth” manner of speaking. We need to have a more nuanced understanding of the EFF leaders and how they have handled themselves thus far. It seems they have a plan. They contested the elections and they got into Parliament. The party is being instrumentalist in its approach on the class question in spaces such as Parliament. Wearing an overall and domestic worker garb at the opening of Parliament is a statement, but is it a strong enough statement given that many working-class people voted for the ANC?

Which brings me to the second question: Why do poor people keep voting for the ANC (and now a million have put the EFF in Parliament)? This has been the most worrying question for me and it crept into an interview with Nomboniso Gasa and Sipho Seepe when the issue of education and voting was discussed. Any logical voter and any rational person can see that the ANC should not be in power and the EFF policies will not work, so why vote for them?

This assumption is problematic because one then assumes that any rational voter would then vote for the DA as the credible opposition. Any rational voter should be educated enough to see that the ANC should no longer be in power. In the interview I mention, Gasa raises the need to understand the process of voting as more nuanced and complex than it really is (even when looking at the numbers). We assume that when people are unhappy with the ANC they will come to the polls and right that wrong by voting for another party. But what if they choose to stay at home because the other opposition parties are just not viable for them? Or more importantly, what if they vote for the ANC because they do not view the ANC as a personality but a party with ideals? A personality can be removed as we saw with the former president and many other ANC members who have been side-lined before, so voters can also vote with this hope.

The elections are over but the discussions and analysis have been illuminating about how we understand the voter psyche in this country. Elections are a ritual of democracy and after every ritual there’s the expectation that life will be different, better than it was before. And this remains to be seen now that the “hooligans” have made it into Parliament. Perhaps voting isn’t about logic, ones level of education or understanding parliamentary processes. Rituals (in a religious context) are often not about rationality and logic but indicate that life must move on and changes must happen.

And some change has definitely come along with this election.