PETER BRUCE: Like the ANC, the EFF and the DA have to face their demons
'As Julius Malema might say, the EFF didn't fall out of a lucky packet. But what eats away at parties is success'
One day the EFF will split into nationalist and Marxist-Leninist factions.
Parties are born out of grievance, not celebration. As Julius Malema might say, the EFF didn't fall out of a lucky packet. But what eats away at parties is success. It has already consumed the ANC. The EFF is still too small to relax.
EXTRACT Generally, political parties aren't required to be as united as they always claim to be. The splits in the ANC are, by now, world famous. The UK Conservative and Labour parties are full of hatred. One day the EFF will split into nationalist and Marxist-Leninist factions. Parties are born out of grievance, not celebration. As Julius Malema might say, the EFF didn't fall out of a lucky packet. But what eats away at parties is success. It has already consumed the ANC. The EFF is still too small to relax. But the DA isn't and its cracks are on rude display. Its leader, Mmusi Maimane, looks isolated, a black social democrat surrounded by (mainly) white liberals of varying intensities. There is without question a racial genie out of the bottle in the DA. To even suggest this will invite a flood of denial and attack on social media. But Maimane wants to lead a nonracial party that nevertheless deliberately grows its black leadership. Almost all of the leaders around him insist that...
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