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Africa Subsaharan
WOKE in South Africa - The white student braving racial politics
2021-10-31
[BBC] Teenager Jess Griesel does not seem the usual red beret-wearing member of South Africa's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) - the party intent on upsetting the country's political landscape.

She is a 19-year-old white, Afrikaans-speaking undergraduate who was recently elected to the Student Representative Council (SRC) of Cape Town university on an EFF ticket.

But in a country as racially charged as South Africa, her stance has not gone down well with some people. When Ms Griesel announced her SRC candidacy in September, one social media user described her as a "race traitor".

Twenty-seven years after the end of white-minority rule - when Nelson Mandela was elected as president in South Africa's first democratic election, calling the country "the rainbow nation" - Ms Griesel tells me the backlash shocked her.

"Being called a race traitor was something that I found very interesting and very telling about South Africa today. It insinuates that there's still an 'us' and a 'them' club."

To understand the reaction she has faced - one needs to understand how the EFF has shaken up politics in South Africa.

Formed in 2013, it is led by the fiery Julius Malema, who has modelled himself on Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez and unapologetically promotes the interests of poor black South Africans.

The party describes itself as "a left-leaning, radical, anti-imperialist and economic emancipation movement, inspired by the broad Marxist-Leninist school of thought."

Members are disruptive, literally and figuratively.

They are often accused of being anti-white. That is because they have repeatedly demanded that white South Africans give up the land taken from black people.

Some EFF supporters occasionally sing the apartheid-era chant "Kill the Boer, kill the farmer", a highly controversial song that a court ruled as hate speech and which is seen as being directed against the white farming community.
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Related:
Economic Freedom Fighters: 2020-10-17 Hundreds of armed black protesters face off with white farmers as South African town braces for bloodshed over farm murder case that prompted violence last week
Economic Freedom Fighters: 2020-02-27 De Klerk finally comes to his senses, then aplogizes for.....coming to his senses
Economic Freedom Fighters: 2019-09-05 Leftist South African Leader Calls for Xenophobic Anger to Be Directed at Wealthy Whites
Posted by:Besoeker

#9  Marxism is a mental illness.
Posted by: Chealing Chomotle4158   2021-10-31 23:16  

#8  #6 Reminds me of a meme

Yes. It's all about the me-me with Goldielocks
Posted by: Merrick Ferret   2021-10-31 15:06  

#7  she isn't braving racial politics

she is exploiting racial politics
Posted by: Lord Garth   2021-10-31 11:42  

#6  Reminds me of a meme
Posted by: Frank G   2021-10-31 08:39  

#5  Party Hearst was more earnest than this ditz.
Nice dimples though... Does she have a dance channel?
Posted by: Merrick Ferret   2021-10-31 07:43  

#4  
Posted by: M. Murcek   2021-10-31 07:35  

#3  The revolution will not be televised, but it will be on Instagram and TikTok.
Posted by: Merrick Ferret   2021-10-31 06:22  

#2  I suppose I’d worry more if her attempt at a fist wasn’t a perfect match for her snub nose, dimples, and wavy blond hair. She looks like she’s playing at revolution, no doubt unlike her adult comrades.
Posted by: trailing wife   2021-10-31 02:30  

#1  The party describes itself as "a left-leaning, radical, anti-imperialist and economic emancipation movement, inspired by the broad Marxist-Leninist school of thought."

A demokraat !
Posted by: Besoeker   2021-10-31 01:04  

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