EXTRACT
The main reason I failed to engage with Mpofu’s tome, however, was the phrase that gave the piece its headline and its entire argumentative thrust.
Because Mpofu was writing about something he unblushingly described throughout the piece as “the Indian question”.
These days a lot of people are accusing the EFF of being fascist. This is an unfair label. The fact is we don’t yet know which form of totalitarian populism the party will decide on as being the best route to taking and holding power. Given that it is a party of personality cults, that decision will also depend heavily on the mood of its leadership: if Julius and Floyd are watching The Motorcycle Diaries, the party will tootle off towards communism. If they’ve just been discussing the pleasures of indulging in some hot, steaming ethnic nationalism, they’ll probably goose-step to the right.