Exonerating South Africa's EFF

America and South Africa's struggle for land reform

Written by Louis, edited by Seraph

Much maligned are the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in South Africa. Their leader, Malema, was branded “the most dangerous man in South Africa.” [1] Afriforum, which boasts of its connection to the State Department, [2] has called the EFF an “organised crime enterprise,” and all mainstream political actors, from those who call themselves “leftists” to the right, have slandered & condemned the EFF. [3][4] From the Breadtube streamer Vaush hurling the same attacks he hurls against working-class Americans toward Malema, calling him a racist and fascist, [5] to the right-wing, such as the outlet Fox News, falsely claiming that Julius Malema sung a “genocidal” song and called for “violence” against White citizens when in reality the “Kill the Boer” song is no more a call for genocide than the various American patriotic songs against the British; it was an Apartheid-era song calling for liberation from Apartheid and for a free South Africa. [6] Even U.S. President Donald Trump has attacked them, posting a strong condemnation of land reform in South Africa. [7] This is despite the fact that the “Government of National Unity” in South Africa merely proposed a superficial bill, which is not, in fact, an instrument of land reform and is not at all close to EFF policy. Nonetheless, all these attacks serve to shut down the land reform efforts in South Africa.

However, rather than being criminals, the EFF's movement is much more similar to the American struggle for land. Primary to the EFF’s movement is the struggle for land; they attack the elites’ stranglehold on property in South Africa. This is something Americans can relate to. Over 200 million acres in the United States are prevented from serving a social purpose due to the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) management and control of them; instead of serving American interests, they serve private interests. Furthermore, billionaires such as Bill Gates are swallowing up all agricultural property, despite the fact that they have no intention of using it for any social purpose that benefits the communities that reside near the land. Billionaire and CNN founder Ted Turner is also among the largest private landowners in the US. [8] While the media celebrates America becoming a nation of renters, this matter couldn’t be any more serious for average Americans with real estate prices on the rise. [9] In China, the CPC owns the land and leases it to its citizens with the social end (benefitting the local communities) in mind, whereas under BLM rule the “public” ownership of the land is not utilized to actually help uplift the people and the communities. Similarly, in South Africa, rather than the land serving a common good, the vast majority of the land is owned by the same wealthy landowning families and companies that have owned the land for decades, if not longer, leaving no hope for the dispossessed and landless masses to own a home or keep land of their own. [10] Instead, the same wealthy families and businesses continue to acquire more land.

EFF marches in the streets of Johannesburg

This is why the EFF proposes a land reform that would see, under the governance of a popular regime, all land transferred to the ownership and custodianship of the state. This would not be under the purview of a bureaucratic parasitic entity like the BLM, nor would it serve to prevent land from serving a social benefit to the communities and people residing there. Instead, as the EFF states, “private ownership of land will be discontinued, and the State will be entrusted with the responsibility of managing and administering land on behalf of the people.” [11] This means that the leasing of land will serve a social end, that being the benefit of, in the case of South Africa, the people of South Africa and the communities that reside on the land. It is not, as the opponents of the EFF may characterize it, a move at “seizing your house.” The EFF makes it clear that “no one” will lose their house as a result of this land reform. [12] Instead of the BLM’s hostility to small farmers and opposition to the development of land, the EFF’s proposed custodianship of agricultural land will be pursued in a developmental manner, seeking innovation in productivity and which will be carried out in coordination to benefit small farmers. [13]

What are the models we can look at to see current success? In China, their system forbids private land ownership altogether, using a “public ownership” framework. The EFF cites the Chinese model of land ownership as one of the examples to look to in this regard and has stated that it is inspired by the CPC, seeing it as a torchbearer for all parties like theirs. [14] [15] Urban land is owned by the state, while rural and suburban land is collectively owned by rural residents (with certain parcels explicitly designated as state land by law). [16] In 1992, China introduced a paid land-use system: commercial and residential plots are auctioned off to the highest bidder—funds that then go toward infrastructure and public investments—while industrial sites are often provided cheaply or at no cost. [17] This arrangement keeps overall costs low, drives large-scale infrastructure projects, and spurs economic growth. [18] Studies indicate that, under a purely private land regime, China’s industrial output, investment, and resident welfare would have dropped, with marginal production costs rising by about 6% accompanied by a 36% fall in GDP. [19] Public ownership also prevents monopolistic land speculation and guarantees that revenue from land (through auctions and leases) is reinvested in infrastructure, rather than going into private hands. [20] This ensures that the land serves a social end in benefitting the communities adjacent to these lands.

President of China Xi Jinping

Beyond this, China’s government has taken steps to address real estate by effectively nationalizing portions of the property sector. State-owned developers gained a growing share of land purchases—nearing 90% in 2023—while struggling private firms were allowed to default. [21] By 2024, authorities made clear that safeguarding homebuyers and completing housing projects took priority over saving indebted private developers. [22] This intensified the state’s role in the real estate market, reflecting China’s broader commitment to keeping land in public hands and channeling its use toward social and economic development rather than private gain.

So while in China, their popular government [23] has pursued a model of public ownership in which the use of land is oriented to serve a social end rather than serve powerful private interests and speculators, in the US and South Africa, attacking the existing stranglehold on the land is dismissed as conspiracy theory and extremist. In the US, criticizing the now-largest private farmland owners in America, the Gates family, is dismissed as conspiratorial, and Bill Gates’ purchases are simply said to be a “rich guy doing rich guy things.” Bill Gates, Ted Turner, [24] and Jeff Bezos have bought up large swathes of farmland and, through their influence and through foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates’ Foundation, have dominated the global conversation surrounding food production (i.e., the Great Reset) [25] and attacked small farmers by promoting the World Economic Forum narratives surrounding “sustainability.” [26] Small farmers are increasingly being pushed aside as 13 percent of operations rent or own 75 percent of U.S. farmed cropland [27] and in some counties, 80 percent of agricultural land is held by non-operators (non-farmers). [28]

Bill Gates

In regards to the BLM, the only way to force them to end their abusive practices has been through confrontation, as shown by the 2014 standoff (in Bunkerville, Nevada) between ranchers and BLM officers, leading them to cease the roundup of these small ranchers' cattle. [29] In fact, this standoff led to some participants in this land struggle coming to realize the broader injustices imposed by the current ruling class; they saw the oppression imposed by the BLM and saw government oppression in other aspects of life in the U.S. as well. This was the case with second-generation rancher Ammon Bundy (currently considered a fugitive by the government), who participated in and helped organize the 2014 standoff as well as also leading a small uprising that seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon for around six weeks in protest of the BLM and other government agencies for what they perceived as unjust federal land policies, encouraging ranchers to tear up their government grazing contracts. [30] [31] Ammon Bundy, while condemning “Black Lives Matter” organizations which align with the ruling class: e.g., like the organizations founded or led by people such as Shaun King or Opal Tometi (who has been criticized for being a Democrat operative), [32] has spoke out against the view that people genuinely protesting police brutality are more of a threat than the police, because for him, whether it's ranchers hit with exorbitant federal fines for “land mismanagement” or Black Americans facing abuse by the police over unpaid fines for minor infractions, these are all examples of injustice, as he put it himself: “We are standing up for people’s rights, no matter their color . . . I think it’s rooted in a similar problem: injustice.” [33] The experience of engaging in this land struggle will open one’s eyes to all of the rotten activities of our ruling class.

Federally controlled land in the United States.

The BLM’s regulatory rules, such as the Public Lands Rule, [34] under the rhetoric of shifting the focus toward conservation, have reduced the land available for productive uses such as livestock grazing, making it even more difficult for small farmers to secure grazing permits and maintain access to public lands, especially in tandem with the bureaucratic and complex process involved in being a permittee. [35] The BLM has billions of dollars allocated to it for maintenance yet without producing any noticeable improvement for the land under its authority or for the communities that reside around those areas. [36] [37] The resource extraction and produce from BLM-managed land do not trickle down to the rural masses living near their land; the social end is not met. [38] The government’s administration of the land is not in the benefit of the communities that reside there. The federal government violated a promise (made in 2023) to the local communities and authorized a foreign corporation to open a potentially toxic uranium mine near the Grand Canyon and directly above a freshwater aquifer, the source of all of the Havasupai Tribe’s drinking water. The local Havasupai community has noticed livestock dying and people getting sick. [39] Furthermore, in places like California, forest management has been botched so much that now the part of national forests protected from timber harvesting is a net contributor to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to fires and trees killed by disease and insects. The government’s management of the forests was not at all in the benefit of the community; the fuel load was not kept in check and it allowed for millions of acres in the state to be scorched by wildfire, with over 130 dead due to this. [40]

In the 2025 California fire, costs caused by the fire likely exceeded $20 billion, with over 16,000 structures destroyed, over 57,000 acres burned, and at least 29 people dead. [41] [42] This translates to thousands of people's lives and livelihoods being destroyed. Not only does the current government land administration favor corporations over the communities or tribes that live there, enabling the abuse of small ranchers, but they also are fully incompetent in terms of managing the land itself and keeping it maintained.

2025 California Fire

In South Africa, powerful wealthy families dominate the land and use their power to prevent land reform. The Rupert family in South Africa holds significant land in regions like the Western Cape, Mpumalanga, and Eastern Cape, alongside direct control of wildlife reserves and national parks. Meanwhile, estimates from 2020 show that over 60 percent of South Africa’s population does not have any secure tenure rights. [43] The Rupert family’s influence extends into the financial sector via their holding company of REMGRO, which holds shares of major banks like FNB, RMB, WesBank, Grindrod, and Discovery Bank. In the insurance industry, companies such as Discovery, Momentum, and Outsurance fall under their umbrella. They also have substantial stakes in healthcare via entities like Mediclinic. Lastly, they have their hands in the petroleum industry (Total South Africa) and e-Media (eNCA and e-Tv). The landless masses are kept in their squalor imposed by parasitic giants such as the Rupert family. The Rupert-controlled media, such as the eNCA, silences the EFF and opposes any media presenters who voice an independent perspective about South African politics. [44] The eNCA serving this role is favored by the South African presidency and rewarded with media access. [45]

What are the real opportunities for the common folk to challenge this oppression? The elections in South Africa are heavily influenced by these ultra-wealthy and powerful families, with the media in both the USA and South Africa used to prop up "choices,” which by and large serve to continue the ruling class’ agenda despite whatever aesthetic differences they may have. In South Africa, the Oppenheimer family is one of South Africa’s richest and most politically influential families. [46] It is by far one of the leading powers of the entrenched families in South Africa. During the Apartheid period in South Africa, the ‘Oppenheimer empire’ exploited resources not only in South Africa but also in Tanganyika and Swaziland; while acting in this role, they also financed the sham opposition in Parliament such as the United Party as well as white nationalist formations such as the Torch Commando. [47] The Oppenheimer family exerts its influence in South Africa through a number of means. Firstly by directly promoting the Democratic Alliance (DA) and ActionSA as part of the so-called “Multi-Party Charter,” and secondly by indirectly promoting the tribalist Zulu Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) (which basically supported apartheid in line with the Bantustan policy) through their ties dating back to the 1970s. Harry Oppenheimer also donated to the IFP President Mangosuthu Buthelezi to establish what is now Mangosuthu University of Technology, and the Oppenheimer family’s visible presence at his funeral solidified their clear alignment on opposition to land reform. [48]

IFP President Mangosuthu Buthelezi

Furthermore, they also extensively involved themselves in local elections through their political puppets. [49] Their influence doesn’t stop there; the current President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, is an Oppenheimer protégé. He was a representative of the Urban Foundation, which was a “brainchild of the business sector following the 1976 uprising in black communities, was formed with the inspiration of Harry Oppenheimer and Anton Rupert and Jan van der Horst from the Anglo American, Rembrandt and Old Mutual stables respectively.” [50] Cyril Ramaphosa, in the post-apartheid period, was director at the Anglo-American Corporation. [51] Thus, it should’ve been no great surprise when we saw the ANC under Ramaphosa’s leadership form a coalition government with the DA, the Patriotic Alliance (PA), Freedom Front Plus (this neo-apartheid party has the Ministry of Correctional Services) and the IFP. [52] [53] The coalition is called the Government of National Unity; except rather than uniting the country under a popular government, it places far more control in the hands of the powerful elite families of South Africa.

Not only does Ramaphosa have ties going back decades with the Oppenheimers, but as a puppet of the real power in South Africa, the entrenched families such as the Rupterts, the Bekkers, and yes, the Oppenheimers too, it is not in their interest to see land reform and redistribution occur, so they use all their assets and puppets to prevent this from occurring, This then neutralizes any elements that may have previously existed in the ANC by bringing it into a coalition government with it’s direct puppet, the DA, and the parties under its indirect control, such as the IFP and other collaborative interests like the PA. In modern South Africa, the Oppenheimer family still holds this same role as the entrenched wealthy families in America, doing the bidding of the deep state and the intelligence apparatus. We see in the US how the very same families mentioned in Ferdinand Lundberg’s America's 60 Families, which discussed how the powerful families, through their various foundations and funded NGOs, formed a plutocratic circle in the government, carrying out one of the State Department’s key functions: fomenting color revolutions and promoting the U.S. State Department's narrative. We see the activities of the Ford Foundation and of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in promoting the U.S. ruling class’ agenda. [54]

In South Africa, also not yet sovereign and free from the slavery of financial capital, the families that own the natural resources and land, like the Ruperts, Oppenheimers, and Guptas. Despite whatever disputes you may see in the media between them, when it comes to what is in the critical interest of finance capital, all unite to attack the threat posed by the EFF and Julius Malema. A perfect example of this is with the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party), formed by ex-president Jacob Zuma, who’s connected to the Gupta family. [55] The MK Party puts on a progressive veneer, but in reality, their purpose was to attack the EFF and attempt to bring about its collapse. [56] As EFF Central Command Team member Matumba Anthony said, “The EFF is the only opposition party in South Africa with a proper foot print in all provinces.” [57] This is true. The MK Party is a party that practices what is called “Home Boy” politics (in other terms, tribalism), much like the IFP before them. The EFF receives more votes than the MK Party in all provinces except KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. [58] This is because Zulu-speaking voters reside in KwaZulu-Natal, southern regions of Mpumalanga, and Gauteng (where EFF still got more votes). Furthermore, the MK Party had people in the EFF sabotaging its campaign from the inside (Floyd, Dali, Jimmy Manyi, Mkhwebane). [59] With the political forces of the Guptas, Oppenheimer, and Ruperts all mobilized against the EFF, it is remarkable that they survived this effort at initiating a total collapse of the party. The EFF survived because they have a solid popular base of support among the landless South Africans across all provinces with no reliance on tribalism.

2019 South African general election results.

2024 South African general election results.

The EFF has reached out to all South Africans of good character in all provinces. And contrary to what the Western slander of the EFF says, this includes working-class South Africans who are White. Despite what the media attempts to portray, the EFF does not actually tolerate racism; in 2015 they expelled race identitarian and Gupta family apologist Andile Mngxitama and his associates from the party as his stances contradicted the EFF’s platform while also engaging in slander of the party’s chairman Julius Malema. [60] Mngxitama then took similarly minded people to his new split-off party, Black First Land First (BLF), which rejects Marxist analysis in favor of racial identitarianism, banning White members from joining. [61] The EFF never had a policy like this in place. In fact, it has thousands of supporters [62] who are South Africans of White ancestry, and Julius Malema has encouraged White EFF members to run as candidates, [63] saying the EFF is home to everyone, “a fighter is a fighter.” [64] The EFF supports inclusive recruitment campaigns across racial lines; [65] consequently, we’ve seen a rise in prominent student EFF activists [66] as well as South Africans of White ancestry, such as anti-apartheid veteran Carl Niehaus, who was elected to an EFF seat in the National Assembly and occupies a very visible role as an EFF activist. [67] Of course, the BLF allied with those who sought to sabotage the EFF, forming an electoral pact with the MK Party. [68] The EFF is not even close to the identitarianism of the BLF. The EFF has gone out to the neglected and impoverished settlements of South Africa, some of which have both Black and White inhabitants, helping to restore buildings and clean up the area.

EFF members in Ekurhuleni

One White South African from a mini-shantytown helped by the EFF, stated that the ‘White-led party’ (DA) governing the area had just used them for votes and discarded them like garbage, saying the following: “When the DA took over Ekurhuleni, we never heard from them again. My next vote, and the vast majority of everyone living here, will be for the EFF next time. They see us, they hear us, and they do not care about race. Just about poor people.” Yet people will still believe, based on coordinated media efforts, that the EFF is who we should be scared of; the EFF, not the elites and defense contractors shipping weapons to bomb children in Gaza, not the Silicon Valley billionaires itching to take more of our rights away, and not the duopoly in America that seeks to stifle independent thought supplemented by censorship. Working-class Americans (including those of White ancestry) have infinitely more in common with the folks supporting the EFF and the South Africans struggling for land ownership than the wealthy landholding families and massive corporations.

To argue that the material interests of any working-class American are the same as the latter's would be the equivalent of saying that a working-class American has the same material interests as the Gates’, Elon Musk (who is currently attempting to increase imported foreign labor into the US), [69] or Larry Fink. This is an obviously laughable and easily debunked claim. So why is it that many people who are aware of the political actors in South Africa continue to fall into this line of thinking? As mentioned earlier, there is an extensive propaganda campaign designed to funnel criticism against the EFF. AfriForum is dedicated to shaping public opinion against both land reform and Julius Malema (going as far as organizing a “Stop Malema” campaign) [70] under the guise of minority rights, much like how other “minority rights” organizations, such as Uyghur international organizations abroad, serve reactionary goals and the US ruling class’ soft power, though now hampered with the recent US budget cuts. [71] [72]

AfriForum has ties to the US State Department. As stated earlier, AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel met and talked with US National Security Advisor John Bolton in 2018, [73] who was simultaneously planning the Venezuelan coup d'état. [74] Furthermore, the presence of multiple emigrant South African tech elites [75] seems to play the role of a Gusano-like pressure group [76] advocating for specific and targeted negative coercive policies toward their country of origin without real regard for the well-being or sovereignty of the vast majority of the populations of these countries. [77] [78] The difference between South Africa and Cuba is that the latter underwent comprehensive land reform, levelling the Gusano landholding elite and expelling them to the US, whereas in South Africa, the land of these elite families was not seized, nor were their holdings touched, and they (like what Errol Musk admitted about Elon Musk’s shares of apartheid-era industries in African mines) did not form their respective companies in South Africa; instead, Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and David Sacks seek to prevent a real land reform (like the EFF proposes) from occurring. These people are not looking out at all for the interests of the American people in their actions here; no foreign lobby ever does.

While that explains the particularities of the current administration's relationship to the situation, why would people like John Bolton, who have strong ties with the Deep State apparatus, involve themselves with AfriForum and promote an agenda against Julius Malema? The answer is simple: Malema threatens the American ruling class's interests in South Africa; he threatens the powerful bankers and their interests in looting the nation, and he threatens the large landowners who oppose any effort at land reform. The EFF and Malema threaten American imperialism in Africa; they oppose all efforts of the US to change or coerce the policies of African nations. [79] Furthermore, they oppose the lucrative Western-driven extraction of Africa’s natural resources away from the people they belong to. For example, the EFF has taken a vocal stance against the Kagame government in Rwanda, which has served as a launchpad for American influence in the region since Kagame came to power in 1994, which occurred after he was trained by the US at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. [80] [81] Kagame’s regime not only fills a valuable security role [82] for the US but also a financial role, utilizing their occupation of Eastern DRC to exploit more natural resources, which are in turn sold to the Western nations. [83] This and the other reasons stated earlier are why Silicon Valley billionaire and now-government official Elon Musk (whose family is tied to the apartheid period in South Africa, with Musk’s grandfather being a vocal supporter of apartheid and his father, Errol Musk, stating they owned shares in a mine) [84] [85] has called for Julius Malema to be sanctioned and declared an international criminal. [86] Musk has gone further and posited that President Cyril Ramaphosa should ‘disallow’ the EFF. [87] In a controversy that figures like Musk, Trump, and others claim is fueled by the Expropriation Act—a legislative measure on land reform opposed by the EFF—it appears the act will not function as a genuine instrument of land reform. Given the way it is stirring debate, it seems more likely aimed at pressuring South Africa to reject the EFF and take action against it.

Malema and Elon Musk

In light of all this, it is clear that the fight of the EFF is the same fight of the American working class. The concentration of land and resources in the hands of a few perpetuates despair and hopelessness among the American people. Rather than dismissing movements like the EFF based on prevailing narratives that are peddled by dubious personalities and media, Americans should find inspiration in the EFF’s resolve to confront entrenched power in South Africa.

The current political landscape in the U.S. is currently seen as limited to a binary choice between Republican and Democrat; they are ultimately the same and neither will change anything concretely for the better. Americans must look to the EFF for inspiration to unite under a collective movement—a universal army of Americans committed to advocating for a real change in America to end this inhuman system operating here and to build a new one focused on social ends. Instead of the Gates, [88] the Morgans, [89] the Rockefellers, [90] the Fords, [91] [92] [93] or powerful corporate powers like BlackRock and Vanguard which dominate the Federal Reserve, [94] who are buying up houses, making it harder for the average American to own a home through large stakes in real estate companies [95] and deciding policy in the US and pushing the American people toward landlessness. Instead of the entrenched ruling class and intelligence agencies using our nation’s resources for their foreign wars and efforts, what if the American people were in charge? If you agree the American people should lead this nation and not unaccountable deep state interests, then you in effect have the same mission as the EFF in South Africa, who are struggling for their country to be free from the domination of monopoly capital and from the current ruling class apparatus.

Drawing on Jameson’s notion of the universal army, in An American Utopia: Dual Power and the Universal Army, as a vehicle for dual power, we can view the EFF in South Africa as embodying a similar transformative impulse. The universal army is not merely a fighting force but a mass mobilization apparatus—a re-nationalized institution that provides essential services and stands as a counterweight to an unrepresentative state. As Jameson puts it, the project calls for a “popular mass force capable of coexisting successfully with an increasingly unrepresentative ‘representative government’ and transforming it into a vehicle for mass democracy rather than the representative kind.” [96]

The EFF operates on a similar principle. Since its formation in 2013—born out of a rejection of neoliberal policies, rampant corruption, and lack of land reform—the EFF has mobilized a broad base, with chapters in every province, and reaching out directly to the neglected masses. This mass mobilization is the universal army, which transcends traditional party politics by directly engaging with the people, providing daily services, and reconfiguring power.

For instance, in informal settlements like Lulu’s Place in Bredell, EFF members have not only campaigned for votes but have actively cleaned up, repaired, and supported local residents. One resident, Charon Uys, noted, “While other parties just pass through during voter registration and election campaigns, the EFF decided to include us in their efforts—and they never left.” [97] While the government allows illegal dumpings in places like Bredell, the EFF takes on the work to keep these places livable. [98] Such initiatives illustrate the formation of dual power: a parallel structure that steps in where traditional state and party apparatuses have failed to serve the basic needs of the people.

Moreover, by addressing issues like land reform and nationalization, the EFF shifts the political discourse—forcing mainstream parties like the ANC, DA, and others, as shown earlier linked to entrenched oligarchies and corrupt networks, to contend with demands that originate from the grassroots, exposing these parties’ lack of will to carry out change to the public. Dual power emerges when alternative institutions provide tangible services that directly contest the monopoly of state power. During the floods in KwaZulu-Natal, the EFF’s rapid deployment of food parcels and blankets not only provided immediate relief but also symbolically asserted their capacity to govern and care for the people in ways that conventional political structures have neglected. [99] [100]

The EFF’s broad national presence, its consistent engagement with the neglected sectors of society, and its commitment to issues of economic justice and land reform, collectively construct a form of dual power. The EFF represents the will of the landless masses. They operate within the existing state framework while simultaneously carving out an alternative sphere of social and political organization. It is through this popular mobilization that the stranglehold on the land can be challenged.

Just as the EFF seeks to empower the landless and dispossessed in South Africa, acting as a universal army, a similar movement in America could work toward breaking the stranglehold of powerful interests and bringing about justice for Americans. In fact, in America we do see the beginning of this, with the formation of the American Communist Party (ACP). While still a burgeoning young party, the ACP has pushed forward to fill the gaps left by the American government. In the aftermath of the 2024 hurricane season that hit the southern states, the ACP spent weeks delivering generators, distributing children's diabetes supplies, mobilizing thousands of dollars worth of essential supplies, and cleaning up debris. [101] [102] [103] [104] Furthermore, the ACP has provided food to the hungry in their communities, restored homes, and they have helped their communities in other ways, such as building a public library box to promote access to educational materials. [105] [106] [107] [108] [109] While the ACP has not reached the mobilization levels of the more than one million-strong EFF, they are pushing forward to develop an American universal army to uphold the sovereignty of the American people and to foster working-class power.

ACP members donate food to survivors of Hurricane Helene.

Though the media will try to tell you that the EFF are racists or fascist extremists who have nothing in common with Americans, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, it is through analysis of their approach to the South African land struggle and their development of a popular base for mobilization that we can seek to free ourselves from the tyrannical oligarchy in our own country.

Like Jackson Hinkle, a member of the Executive Board of the ACP, said in a conversation with EFF host Titus Tshungu: “A lot of people say that the biggest enemy of America is Russia or they’ll say America’s biggest enemy is China. . . . Now Elon Musk is saying our enemy is Julius Malema. But the truth is the biggest enemy of the US government is the American people.” [110]

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References

1. "Is Julius Malema the Most Dangerous Man in South Africa?" The Economist, 15 Feb. 2024, https://archive.ph/UFmpP.

2. Kriel, Kallie. "Great Turn of Events." X, 9 May 2018, https://archive.ph/jFDdC.

   AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel can be seen meeting with then US National Security Advisor John Bolton.

3. SAPS Must Investigate Malema, Shivambu and the EFF as an Organised Crime Enterprise." AfriForum, 19 July 2024, https://archive.ph/ayDID.

4. Yet they spend an exorbitant amount of time attacking Communists and attacking the most successful Communist movements, such as that of the Communist Party of China, as well as supporting Western efforts against countries such Russia (Reuters Fact Check. “CNN Did Not Tweet a Story about ‘the Kharkiv Kid Finder.’” Reuters, 8 Mar. 2022, https://archive.ph/PCwht. “Kochinski is a self-described ‘libertarian socialist’ and ‘anti-fascist’, and he has posted a wealth of content expressing disapproval of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine”).

5. This South African Presidential Candidate Is Scary (SOUTH AFRICA RESEARCH). The Vaush Pit, Ian Kochinski, 4 Nov. 2024, YouTube,

6. Hall, Alexander. "South African Political Leader Calls for Violence against White Citizens at Rally: 'Kill the Boer, the Farmer'." Fox News, 31 July 2023, https://archive.ph/mX9bM.

7. Mashilo, Oratile. “‘We Will Expropriate Land and Trump’s Threats Won’t Stop Us’ — Malema.” The Citizen, 3 Feb. 2025, https://archive.ph/zN13h.

8. "Ted Turner." The Land Report, https://landreport.com/land-report-100/ted-turner.

9. Smith, Karl W. “America Should Become a Nation of Renters.” Bloomberg, 17 June 2021, http://archive.ph/CqgYy.

10. "Frequently Asked Questions: On Land Expropriation Without Compensation." EFF Online, 2020, https://effonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/FAQ-2020.pdf.

11. Ibid.

12. Ibid.

13. Ibid.

14. “The EFF’s Answers to Your Questions on Land EWC.” Politicsweb, 5 Dec. 2018, https://archive.ph/f4N23.

15. Mashigo, Lehlohonolo. “EFF congratulates re-election of General-Secretary of Communist Party of China.” IOL News, 25 Oct. 2022, https://archive.ph/akZIj.

16. Liu, Kai. “How the land system with Chinese characteristics affects China’s economic growth – an analysis based on a multisector Dynamic General Equilibrium Framework.” China Political Economy, vol. 3, no. 1, 27 July 2020, p. 227, https://doi.org/10.1108/cpe-05-2020-0009.

17. Liu, pp. 228-230.

18. Liu, pp. 228-230.

19. Liu, p. 238.

20. Liu, p. 236.

21. China's state-owned developers dominate sales, land markets in 2023 - surveys, https://archive.ph/JqZ32.

22. Tan, Huileng. “Beijing Says Property Developers in Deep Trouble Must Go Bankrupt.” Business Insider, 11 Mar. 2024, https://archive.ph/mNXi2

23. Harsha, Dan. “Taking China’s pulse.” The Harvard Gazette, 9 July 2020, https://archive.ph/ZDejQ.

24. Grant, Peter. "Media Mogul Turner Pays $11.6 Million for Florida Land." The Wall Street Journal, 9 Feb. 2000, https://archive.ph/gDEon.

25. McCune, Nils, and Camila Escalante. "How Big Corporations and Bill Gates Took Over the UN Food Summit." The Grayzone, 23 Sept. 2021, https://archive.ph/yiZRQ.

26. Gates, Bill. "The Future of Food." Gates Notes, https://archive.ph/o6JHo.

27. Newman, Jesse. “U.S. Farmers Vie for Land as a Grain Rally Sparks Shopping Spree.” The Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2021, https://archive.ph/Onsyl.

28. Sallet, Lori. “American Farmland Trust Releases First-Ever National Report on Non-Operator Landowners .” American Farmland Trust, 23 Apr. 2020, https://archive.ph/nh1Jp.

29. Knapp, George, and Lauren Rozyla. "BLM Ends Roundup of Bundy Cattle." 8 News NOW, 12 Apr. 2014, web.archive.org/web/20150524193926/http://www.8newsnow.com/story/25230368/major-development-in-bunkerville-cattle-battle-between-cliven-bundy-and-blm.https://web.archive.org/web/20150524193926/http://www.8newsnow.com/story/25230368/major-development-in-bunkerville-cattle-battle-between-cliven-bundy-and-blm.

30. Was tased multiple times by BLM officers during the struggle. Ammon Bundy was the one who made the call for protesters to gather to rally against the BLM. He commented on the 2014 struggle, stating, “We the people got together and made something right.“ He said public figures who don’t agree with this struggle should “be kicked out of office,” regardless of their position, he added. https://web.archive.org/web/20150320232543/http://insider.foxnews.com/2014/04/14/%E2%80%98we-people-have-spoken%E2%80%99-bundy-family-responds-nevada-standoff-over-grazing-fees

31. “Oregon Standoff Timeline: 41 Days of the Malheur Refuge Occupation.” OregonLive, https://archive.ph/gAylc.

32. Nasheed, Tariq. “Opal Tometi.” X, 19 June 2020, https://archive.ph/UWewt.

33. Ames, Michael. “How Ammon Bundy Helped Foment an Anti-Masker Rebellion in Idaho.” The New Yorker, 21 Dec. 2020, https://archive.ph/Abm5h.

34. “Conservation and Landscape Health Rule (Public Lands Rule).” Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior, 12 June 2024, https://archive.ph/o0LWd.

35. Jensen, Brandon. “Understanding BLM Grazing Permits.” Budd-Falen Law Offices LLC, 9 Nov. 2020, www.buddfalen.com/post/understanding-blm-grazing-permits.

36. Deferred Maintenance of Federal Land Management Agencies: FY2011-FY2020 Estimates and Issues. Congressional Research Service, 2021.

37. Cohen, Ariel. The Federal Government's Poor Management of America's Land Resources, 1999. https://www.heritage.org/environment/report/executive-summary-the-federal-governments-poor-management-americas-land

38. Lozada, Jessica. “New Guinn Center Report Examines Demographic Indicators for Youth in Nevada.” Nevada Today, University of Nevada, Reno, 2 June 2022, https://archive.ph/rFxFK

39. Biden's Apology to Native Americans. Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan, featuring Jaque Fragua and Andrew Callaghan, 4 Nov. 2024, YouTube,

    (11:42 / 19:27)

40. DeVore, Chuck. “Wildfires Caused By Bad Environmental Policy Are Causing California Forests To Be Net CO2 Emitters.” Forbes, 25 Feb. 2019, https://archive.ph/m0oMg.

41. Revell, Eric. “California Wildfires Could Cost Insurers $20B, Highest in State’s History.” Fox Business, 9 Jan. 2025, https://archive.ph/Kzol4.

42. "CALFIRE: Current Emergency Incidents". CAL FIRE. https://archive.ph/84SYI.

43. Ramantsima, Katlego, and Refiloe Joala. “South Africa’s Unanswered Land Question.” Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, 3 May 2024, https://archive.ph/jc0iL.

44. Mathys, Leigh-Ann. "EFF Statement on Enca’s White Supremacist Modus Operandi." EFF Online, 25 June 2024, https://effonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/25-06-2024-EFF-STATEMENT-ON-ENCAS-WHITE-SUPREMACIST-MODUS-OPERANDI-2.pdf.

45. Thambo, Sinawo. "Presidency Condemned for Granting eNCA Exclusive Feed." Politicsweb, 30 Oct. 2023, https://archive.ph/FpV0U.

46. Shivambu, Floyd. “White Power Is Re-Asserting Its Dominance.” Politicsweb, 24 Feb. 2024, https://archive.ph/O6g2s.

47. Fasulo, G. The Powers Behind Apartheid. Africa Research Group, 1963.

48. Shivambu, Floyd. “White Power Is Re-Asserting Its Dominance.” Politicsweb, 24 Feb. 2024, https://archive.ph/O6g2s.

49. Ibid.

50. Esterhuyse, 2011

51. Nsehe, Mfonobong. “Rich and Powerful Africans: Cyril Ramaphosa.” Forbes, 9 Aug. 2011, https://archive.ph/g8nm5.

52. Ramaphosa, Cyril. “Statement by President Cyril Ramaphosa on the Appointment of Members of the National Executive.” The Presidency, 30 June 2024, https://archive.ph/JCRxu.

53. Chothia , Farouk, et al. “ANC and DA Reach Deal to Form South African Government of National Unity.” BBC News, 14 June 2024, https://archive.ph/aim5s.

54. Blumenthal, Max, and Kit Klarenberg. "How a Gates Foundation Trustee Directed a Plot to Overthrow Zimbabwean Leader Alongside US and UK Gov't." The Grayzone, 31 Jan. 2022, https://archive.ph/yM0Qu.

55. “The Guptas and Their Links to South Africa’s Jacob Zuma.” BBC News, 14 Feb. 2018, https://archive.ph/FlLuz.

56. Anthony, Matumba (Central Command Team member). “The EFF Didn’t Decline from 10% to 9%, It Survived a Total Collapse.” X, 11 Nov. 2024, https://archive.ph/L4lWb.

57. Ibid.

58. Ibid.

59. Ibid.

60. Quintal, Genevieve. “Expelled EFF Members Removed as MPs.” News24, 16 Apr. 2015, www.news24.com/News24/expelled-eff-members-removed-as-mps-20150416.

61. BLF Back | Whites still not allowed in the party: Mngxitama. SABC News, 5 Feb. 2021, YouTube,

62. “Citizen Surveys: How Many White EFF Supporters Exist, and 11 Other Stats.” Citizen Surveys, 1 Nov. 2018, https://archive.ph/PdwII.

63. White People Are Welcome To Become EFF Candidates For Parliament Too! | Julius Malema. Africa Web TV, 11 Feb. 2024, YouTube,

64. Heever, Megan van den. “Home to everyone’: Malema welcomes EFF ‘white fighters.” The South African, 20 Feb. 2024, https://archive.ph/oRGig.

65. Sinxo, Zolani. “EFF hopes to attract more white members in Western Cape.” IOL News, 25 Oct. 2022, https://archive.ph/Ie2Ds.

66. Lakaje, Mpho. “The White Student Braving Racial Politics in South Africa.” BBC News, 31 Oct. 2021, https://archive.ph/KKSq7.

67. Rall, Se-Anne. “WATCH: EFF MP Carl Niehaus says party will not join GNU.” IOL News, 14 June, 2024, https://archive.ph/90Ucm.

68. Ntsaluba, Gcina. “BLF Signs ‘Historic Agreement’ with Jacob Zuma’s MK.” The South African, 18 Jan. 2024, https://archive.ph/tyagq.

69. Dobkin, Rachel. Laura Loomer Issues Apology amid H-1B Fight with Elon Musk, Newsweek, 30 Dec. 2024, https://archive.ph/V0Mnk.

70. “Stop Malema.” AfriForum, https://archive.ph/9xgvo. “‘The PayPal Mafia’: Meet the South African Oligarchs Surrounding Trump, from Elon Musk to Peter Thiel.” Democracy Now!, 10 Feb. 2025, www.democracynow.org/2025/2/10/elon_musk_doge_south_africa_apartheid.

71. “Inside the World Uyghur Congress: The US-Backed Right-Wing Regime-Change Network Seeking the ‘Fall of China.’” Xinjiang Focus, The State Council Information Office of China, 5 Mar. 2020, https://archive.ph/Rhv2k.

72. Kine, Phelim. “Elon Musk’s Attacks on a Group Long Backed by the GOP Prompt Republican Shrugs.” Politico, 13 Feb. 2025, https://archive.ph/jKfMv.

73. Kriel, Kallie. "Great Turn of Events." X, 9 May 2018, https://archive.ph/jFDdC.

74. Ceja, José Luis Granados. “Venezuela Condemns Washington Coup Plots As Bolton Doubles Down.” Venezuelanalysis, 18 July 2024, https://archive.ph/hm7G3.

75. “Stop Malema.” AfriForum, https://archive.ph/9xgvo. “‘The PayPal Mafia’: Meet the South African Oligarchs Surrounding Trump, from Elon Musk to Peter Thiel.” Democracy Now!, 10 Feb. 2025, www.democracynow.org/2025/2/10/elon_musk_doge_south_africa_apartheid.

76. Koçak, Canberk. “Interest Groups and U.S. Foreign Policy Towards Cuba: The Restoration of Capitalism in Cuba and the Changing Interest Group Politics.” Class, Race and Corporate Power, vol. 4, no. 2, 2017, doi:10.25148/CRCP.4.2.001664. hdl:10451/25813.

77. Hanks, Douglas, and Joey Flechas. “In Miami, the Mayor Says Military Action May Be Needed in Cuba.” Miami Herald, 14 July 2021, https://archive.ph/KqOEZ.

78. Nsimenta, Bridget. “South Africa: Musk Calls for Sanctions Against Malema.” allAfrica, 9 Feb. 2025, https://archive.ph/ES034.

79. Thambo, Sinawo. “US Ambassador’s Imperialist Talk Condemned – EFF.” Politicsweb, 12 May 2023, https://archive.ph/fa64X.

80. Mkhulisi, Mfundekelwa. “Malema: We Know Cyril Is Weak But . . .” Daily Sun, 3 Feb. 2025, https://archive.ph/kEjmi.

    "It is Kagame who killed our soldiers. The support he gave to M23 and the M23 acting in a disrespectful manner to South African soldiers, they knew they got the backing of Rwanda. Why do you want to treat Rwanda like it’s a friend and progressive? Kagame has the blood of South Africans on his hands. Nothing is going to change."

81. Maj. Paul Kagame Withdraws from Fort Leavenworth to Join the Front, https://archive.ph/YDHNc.

82. Gale, Alexander E. “Rwanda Is Becoming Africa’s Most Active Security Provider.” Modern Diplomacy, 29 Oct. 2023, https://archive.ph/nILsb.

83. “EU and Rwanda Sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Sustainable Raw Materials Value Chains.” European Commission, 18 Feb. 2024, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_822.

84. Lepore, Jill. “The X-Man.” The New Yorker, 11 Sept. 2023, https://archive.ph/8PJzr.

85. Heever, Megan van den. “Elon Musk Lied about Emerald Mine Fortune, Says Dad [Video].” The South African, 14 Nov. 2024, https://archive.ph/hqqIF.

86. Patel, Faizel. “‘I Don’t Care’ – Malema Hits Back at Musk’s Calls for Him to Be Sanctioned and Declared ‘International Criminal.’” The Citizen, 10 Feb. 2025, https://archive.ph/Cg10s.

87. Ibid.

88. Blumenthal, Max, and Kit Klarenberg. "How a Gates Foundation Trustee Directed a Plot to Overthrow Zimbabwean Leader Alongside US and UK Gov't." The Grayzone, 31 Jan. 2022, https://archive.ph/yM0Qu.

89. "About Those Who are Against Peace." CIA Reading Room, 16 Dec. 1959, https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP65-00756R000300270001-9.pdf. p. 364.

    “An influx of American exploiters arrived in South Korea, including agents, representatives of powerful U.S. monopolies, and confidential operatives. Previously, a Japanese colonial monopoly, known as The Eastern Colonization Society, had operated in Korea, later rebranded as New Korea. Through this entity, large portions of land, as well as South Korean mining and other enterprises, fell into the hands of American monopolies. The Morgans and Rockefellers became the real powers behind South Korea’s economy, controlling over 60 percent of its industry.”

90. Roy, Arundhati. Capitalism: A Ghost Story. Haymarket Books, 2014, pp. 27–28. ISBN 9781608463855."By the 1950s, the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, funding several NGOs and international educational institutions, began to operate as quasi-extensions of the U.S. government, which at the time was toppling democratically elected governments in Latin America, Iran, and Indonesia. (That was also around the time it made its entry into India, then non-aligned but leaning toward the Soviet Union.) The Ford Foundation established a U.S.-style economics course at the University of Indonesia. Elite Indonesian students, trained in counterinsurgency by U.S. Army officers, played a crucial role in the 1965 CIA-backed coup in Indonesia that brought General Suharto to power. He repaid his mentors by slaughtering hundreds of thousands of communist rebels."

91. Ibid.

92. Papert, Tony. "Moscow Conference Exposes 'Color Revolutions' as Warfare." Executive Intelligence Review, vol. 41, no. 24, EIR News Service Inc., 13 June 2014, p. 22, https://larouchepub.com/eiw/public/2014/eirv41n24-20140613/07-25_4124.pdf.

93. Myers, Steven Lee. "Russian Probe Shuts Media Foundation." The Washington Post, 29 June 2007, https://archive.ph/RDnbR.

94. Massa, Annie, and Caleb Melby. “In Fink We Trust: BlackRock Is Now ‘Fourth Branch of Government.’” Bloomberg, 21 May 2020, https://archive.ph/DzWON.

95. Fijalkowski, Tanja. “Vanguard and Wall Street Are Pumping Global Housing Markets.” Upside Chronicles, 28 Apr. 2022, https://archive.ph/1PqAi.

96. Jameson, Fredric. An American Utopia: Dual Power and the Universal Army. Edited by Slavoj Žižek, Verso, 2016, p. 28.

97. Kaiser, Hein. "‘The EFF cares for us whites,’ Bredell residents put their faith in red berets." The Citizen, 15 May, 2023, https://archive.ph/kvBD5.

98. Tshabalala, Nobukhosi. "EFF and locals clean up illegal dumping in Bredell." The Citizen, 1 May, 2023, https://archive.ph/G4iQD.

99. Economic Freedom Fighters. “EFF Member of Parliament, Commissar Mama Khawula donating food to the community of Ward 54 eNhlungwane, in KZN.” X, 18 Apr. 2022, https://archive.ph/oOBRd.

100. Economic Freedom Fighters. “EFF Member of Parliament, Commissar Mama Khawula visiting the affected families in KZN, donating food and blankets.” X, 18 Apr. 2022, https://archive.ph/IuHgL.

101. ACP North Carolina. “We have been working hard to provide Hurricane Helene relief in NC.” X, 5 Nov. 2024, https://archive.ph/FQbuI.

102. ACP North Carolina. “Hurricane relief continues!” X, 5 Nov. 2024, https://archive.ph/ZXtMf.

103. ACP Main. “Amidst the Federal government’s woeful negligence of its own citizens, our comrades at ACP North Carolina have mobilized to provide thousands of dollars of essential supplies to hard-hit communities.” X, 5 Oct. 2024, https://archive.ph/ptNMR.

104. ACP Florida. “The American Communist Party Florida Chapter, worked in a rural section of East Collier county, in response to hurricane Helene.” X, 22 Oct. 2024, https://archive.ph/12NND.

105. ACP Maryland. “We prepared and donated meals for 50 people to Annapolis Light House.” X, 28 Jan. 2025, https://archive.ph/aPiLa.

106. ACP Texas. “The ACP Texas chapter met up in Austin to restore the home of Florence, an 81-year-old cancer survivor and life-long local community volunteer.” X, 4 Oct. 2024, https://archive.ph/d0wFe.

107. ACP Texas. “A few weeks ago, a violent storm swept through Austin causing a MASSIVE tree to fall on the home of a great friend of our chapter, Florence.” X, 22 Dec. 2024, https://archive.ph/5mvvk

108. ACP Minnesota. “In December, ACP MN worked with a couple struggling with bills to renew a collapsed and neglected roof before winter.” X, 6 Jan. 2025, https://archive.ph/ztc1O.

109. ACP New York. “Buffalo, NY: Our comrades took action by building a mini public library box on a community member's lawn near a park and school.” X, 23 Sept. 2025, https://archive.ph/WiHoG.

110. EFF Podcast Episode 58. Economic Freedom Fighters, featuring Titus Tshungu and Jackson Hinkle, 14 Feb. 2025, YouTube,

     (11:42 / 34:10)