EFF says to champion Freedom Charter

The EFF party says it will use a rally scheduled for today in Sasolburg to remind South Africans of the ideals of the Freedom Charter that the opposition says has long been abandoned by the ruling ANC party.

The rally scheduled to take place at the Harry Gwala multi-purpose centre will be addressed by party leader Julius Malema, with EFF secretary in the Free State Mandisa Makhesini saying they were expecting to attract a crowd of no less than 10 000 people.

“We have decided to mark the 60th anniversary of the Freedom Charter through yet another festival of the poor – a rally – which will be addressed by the Commander in Chief Julius Malema.
She said the EFF will use the meeting to reassure South Africans that it was the only party that could transform into reality the aspirations of the charter for a truly democratic, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa in which the economy is accessible to all.

However, ANC provincial spokesperson Thabo Meeko rubbished as untrue and hypocritical the claims by the EFF that the ruling party has long ditched the Freedom Charter. Meeko said the opposition party knows full well that every ANC government policy was driven by the principles of the famous document.

He said: “This is just a populist stunt and nothing else. The ANC has never forgotten the Freedom Charter. All the clauses in that document have been implemented in government over the years and what is being said by EFF is nothing but hypocrisy.”

Meeko said that while the EFF will be meeting in Sasolburg the real Freedom Charter celebration will be happening at an ANC meeting in Cape Town also scheduled for today.

Drafted 60 years ago, the Freedom Charter became a powerful force in uniting South Africans across the racial divide in the protracted struggle to eliminate apartheid and establish a non-racial and democratic state.

The spirit of the charter has been reflected in the ANC’s policies in government where it has implemented a massive programme to uplift the majority blacks and other previously disadvantaged ethnic groups.

Meanwhile the Free State ANC Youth League will also today be hosting a rally at the Refeng Kgotso sports ground in Deneysville – 32-kilometres outside Sasolburg. Provincial youth league chairperson Makalo Mohale, who denied suggestions the ANCYL rally was designed to serve as a counter-attraction to the EF event, said the meeting was expected to attract more than 15 000 people from Deneysville and surrounding areas.