The image above was selected by taking a screenshot of a Google search of Julius Malema... I couldn't choose a photo because he often looks super intense in his pictures...
Well this man is the reason that I am staying at home right now and tomorrow is a public holiday so in a sense, thanks for the long weekend Julius!
Fistly, I would like to say that I am NOT a very political person.
For those that want to know, the above man and his political party, the EFF - Economic Freedom Fighters have been making a lot of noise to shut down the country of South Africa today the 20th of March 2023.
Their reasons are mainly to protest the National energy crisis and for our current President - Cyril Ramaphosa (who is the leader of the ANC political party) to step down because of his mismanagement of the country. I have watched some news interviews of protestors and there you will hear many other reasons why the people are doing their protest.
It is legal to have a peaceful protest in South Africa. You need to arrange it and declare it and then go out and do it. Emphasis on peaceful. However, historically, EFF protests are not by and large seen as peaceful and they end up often in the news.
A few years back these protests got so bad that they ended up looting and burning a whole lot of businesses.
I am politically neutral. Let's make my stance on all of this clear. So I would like to offer my opinion and give the reader the Bad and the Good about the day.
The Bad
I do not like the EFF because they are radical, not neutral. I find their politics dangerous management of angry people because often the people involved in the looting and burning have nothing to do with the politics or the politician but they DID group together massive crowds of angry people.
Some of those people get interviewed and they have no idea why they are marching and protesting. Some people join the march so they can opportunistically loot and raid.
I do not practically see why having the President step down to change the energy crisis. The energy crisis is something that will take a good decade to solve. Perhaps the President's resignation will put the country on the path towards solving the problem, but I have watched Presidents coming and going and none of them have really managed to change the trajectory of this crisis.
I have never heard of the EFF building or establishing something positive. I have seen and heard them make demands and claims about everything going to be alright should their demands be met, but I have not yet seen them offer any proof that they are able to prove on a smaller scale that they can manage any sort of organization, business or municipality
The Good
The good part about the EFF and their shutdown that it IS after all, an indication that something is very wrong in our country and in the government and that there are people that are unhappy about it.
They are doing what other opposition parties do not do or do not want to do. While the DA (Democratic Alliance) take on the ANC in Parliament and the Courthouse, the EFF rally up people and this shows everyone at least the cost of angering the general population and the result of losing support of a government that has a practical way to deal with the problems.
The Zak
Meanwhile, what this does give me is another day at home right after a weekend and tomorrow is a public holiday! So I am busy building and painting Warhammer models! Yay!
Have a good day out there! If you are South African, whether you support the EFF or not, stay safe and stay out of trouble!
