LAND EXPROPRIATION
TOM EATON: EFF outlies the ANC by a farm’s length
Unchallenged for decades as the only populist option on the left, its promises have become as anaemic as a homeopathy prescription
Populism is getting some bad press around the world, but let’s not throw the baby out with the Nazis. Because let’s be honest: populism is a great strategy if you can’t do anything else. That is why the ANC has embraced it, opting to change the constitution, maybe, to allow land expropriation without compensation, probably, except where it won’t, or neither, almost certainly, or not. Fundamentally a low-skill organisation offering sheltered employment, the ANC decided some time ago to cut its losses and concentrate on doing just one thing well: corruption. And, to be fair, it’s done very well in that regard. One might even say that when it comes to transforming the state into a predatory extraction machine, it has developed a culture of genuine excellence. Which is why it made sense for the party to ramp up the low-key populism it has dabbled in since 1994. The appeal of populism is rooted in its basic psychology. And it is pretty basic. Its driving energy is a powerfully seductive ...
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