So, a while ago I made a post about the South African Communist Party’s 100 Year Anniversary and a comrade asked about the state of the South African left.

I had spoken about the EFF and I labeled them as populist. Any time a comrade would bring up the EFF, I would immediately feel weird and criticise them. The reason for this is because the socialist communities I’ve been in label them as revisionists, and sometimes even straight up fascist. What I forget is that the communities that I am part of are mostly anarchist, and so I feel a lot of the time their criticisms are ideological. I would share articles I once read criticising them when I was starting my socialist journey, but looking back I realise a lot of the criticisms I would parrot are actually liberal or just bad.

I would allow myself to consume these criticisms uncritically because of my whiteness and growing up I constantly had to hear my peers speak of them being racist and scary. I consumed criticisms uncritically also because of a purity fetish I still had not processed. It is unfair of me to look to countries like China and USSR and critically support them and then hold things in my local country to an unattainable standard.

I had the same issue with the SACP. I would judge them from afar without diving into their internal discussions and materials. After going through their documents, my opinion of them has changed. I think they’re a good party, however, they are currently in a tough predicament in their alliance with the ruling party, the ANC, and the trade union COSATU. I hope they figure out their strategy so they can make better progress.

But back to the EFF. I did the same with them this past month. I had decided to go through their manifestos, watch their conferences, watch interviews with their leader (Julius Malema), and I watched a series on their YouTube channel called “book club” where they discuss Marxist literature.

They say their ideology is Marxism Leninism with applied ideas from Frantz Fanon, which is great considering South Africa’s history and present.

I now admit that my preconceived notions of the party were mostly wrong. I feel I can safely say that the EFF is a committed socialist party, trying not only to establish a socialist South Africa, but a decolonised South Africa.

That is not to say they don’t have flaws. There’s things they may say and do that’s wrong, but that doesn’t suddenly make the good disappear. That is where critical support comes in. If we criticise blindly and allow ourselves to fall into a purity fetish, we will never have a socialist revolution. Everything everywhere will always be flawed, but the point is to be the best you can be at that moment and improve. There will always be corrupt officials, revisionists, opportunists, flawed comrades, and traitors in a party during the revolution. They must be punished or expelled, but those people shouldn’t suddenly make you completely discard an entire movement/party.

Admitting they’re socialist has also given me much more hope for a socialist South Africa. They’re the 3rd largest party in South Africa and they are growing. They are seeking to become more active in grassroots organisation now, which will only increase that growth. They are a party that cannot be ignored, they make their voice heard, and they are introducing genuine radical ideas into the mainstream. Because of their growth and power, they will be attacked by capitalist media, especially white monopoly controlled media, and we cannot forget that.

In conclusion, what is for us to learn from my personal experience?

1. Critically consume criticisms.
2. Reject purity fetish.
3. No investigation = no right to speak - MAO
4. If you’re confused or not confident about something, dive into the core and explore.
5. Never stop trying to understand and learn, and always challenge your own established ideas or assumptions.