The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) will not pay the Independent Electoral Commission the R600 000 deposit required when submitting candidates’ lists for the upcoming national elections, says party leader Julius Malema.
“There should be other methods used by parties to show their seriousness which are beyond money. No party can pay for its rent if it is not serious,” he says, speaking after the High Court in Pretoria adjourned an application by the Economic Freedom Fighters.
The EFF is seeking an interdict against having to pay a deposit to the IEC when submitting its candidate’s lists for the polls. Judge Joseph Raulinga deferred the hearing to Wednesday, allowing all parties time to file heads of arguments.
The EFF has taken President Jacob Zuma, Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor, and the IEC to court. Malema says his party’s chances of contesting the polls were not in question, but the court challenge against the IEC would be intense.
“We are tired of being dominated by capitalist ideas. Let us find less capitalist mechanisms of verifying the seriousness of political organisations. Money is not everything. If money is everything to the IEC and this capitalist government; to us, money is not the Alpha and Omega. We don’t worship money. The IEC must be ashamed because it has waged a war against the poor,” he adds.
The EFF would be willing to comply if the electoral body proposed a figure around R100 or R200. Malema says the IEC requirements would exclude poor people from contesting the elections.
“This is a pure capitalist mentality and it must be contested by the working class and the poor people. The exclusion from the polls on the basis of affordability is the same as exclusion on race. The poor are the black people. We will be here again tomorrow, if the judge rules against us we are proceeding to the highest court. We have assembled a team of legal gurus who have interests to fight for poor people freely,” he adds.
The EFF team on Tuesday was led by Dumisa Ntsebeza. EFF senior official Dali Mpofu was also in court. Rain-drenched members of the EFF sang and danced outside the building as the proceedings took place.
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