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Visser, Chrislea
Student no.: 21825157
Course: Political Science 114

Political Science 114 Essay

Due date: 18 April 2017

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Introduction

In this essay I will be investigating the political manifestos, a public declaration of policy and
aims, of two South African political parties, namely the Democratic Alliance and the Economic
Freedom Fighters. I will be discussing what particular ideologies, a system of ideas and ideals
that form the basis of economic or political theory and policy, these two political parties draw
inspiration from.

The Democratic Alliance will be looked at through the lens of ideologies such as Liberalism and
Socialism, while the Economic Freedom Fighters will be discussed with emphasis on Marxism,
Fascism, Socialism and Feminism.

I will identify which ideologies serve as the intellectual foundation of the Democratic Alliance
(DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and will identify the ideologies associated with
each political party and provide evidence to support this claim.

Democratic Alliance (DA)

Liberalism

Liberalist ideals are focused particularly on economic flexibility, together with more prominent
individual investment in government, and with established, political, and administrative changes
intended to secure these goals (Sandel, 1982:68).

The Democratic Alliance states that one of their main focuses or values are freedom together
with opportunity and fairness (Democratic Alliance 2016:9). They believe that freedom is the
hard-won right of all South Africans (DA 2016:9). This correlates with the liberalist key idea of
freedom, which is given priority over equality, justice or authority (Heywood, 2013:32).

According to the Democratic alliance manifesto (2016:9):

“Everyone has the right to express their freedom, mindful that their choices come with
responsibilities towards others. This includes the freedom to earn a living and accumulate
wealth, live where we want, love who we want, say what we believe, develop our talents and
pursue our dreams.”
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The belief of freedom for all, mindful of responsibilities, feeds into the liberalist idea of
“freedom under the law”, which recognises that one individual’s liberty may be a threat to
another’s (Heywood, 2013:32).

The Democratic Alliance is liberalist because it builds core values upon the thought of equal
opportunity (DA, 2016:10). Liberalists believe in the key idea of equality, more specifically they
favour equality of opportunity, which has the concept of a level playing field for all individuals
born equal into this world (Heywood, 2013:32). The 2016 manifesto voices that with regards to
circumstance, opportunity gives life and importance to our hard won freedoms and rights (DA,
2016:10). The DA expresses the utmost importance of equality of opportunity to uphold the
nation’s dignity and independence (DA, 2016:10). The DA (2016:13) promotes this way of
thinking by stating,

“This is why the DA prioritises equitable and fair access to a range of housing solutions, public
transport initiatives and Information Communication”.

According to Heywood (2013:32) individualism is the liberalist objective to create a civilization

within which individuals can thrive and progress. The DA (2016:10) voices their agreement with
this statement by disclosing that they believe that individuals are left to thrive in the fair society
that they will create.

Socialism

Fraternity in socialism is seen as a common humanity people share and where cooperation is
more valued than competition (Heywood, 2013:39). The DA makes the link to fraternity by
focusing on creating groups where assorted variety is grasped and celebrated (DA, 2016:49). The
DA furthers this link by promising to interface already isolated groups through the presentation
of open transport that works for all and access to comprehensive open spaces that will permit
diverse groups to meet up and share amenities in safety (DA, 2016:49).

In contrast with the liberal view of equality of opportunity, the DA also makes use of the
socialist view of social equality, which is the equality of outcome (DA, 2016:21). The DA
(2016:21) makes this apparent by stating:
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“The DA believes in expanding opportunities to all residents, but we recognise that our history
has left some communities vulnerable and in need of additional support.”

This belief in additional support to vulnerable communities completely disregards the idea of the
liberalist view of equality of opportunity (DA, 2016:13).

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)

Socialism

The socialist view of Need is the idea that material benefits should be dispersed on the
foundation of need, rather than on the foundation of work or merit (Heywood, 2013:39). This
classical principle of Need is based upon the Marxist communist principle of distribution
(Heywood, 2013:39). This foundational belief is quite frequently seen in the Economic Freedom
Fighters Manifesto in regards to housing, education, transport etc. (Economic Freedom Fighters,
2016:13). They express this strive towards distribution based on need by stating that the People’s
Municipality of the EFF will provide housing for free to those who are in need of it (EFF
2013:39). They trust in this key idea to uphold equal distribution among the less wealthy and
privileged.

This core value directly feeds into the following key idea of social equality which is seen as the
centre value of Socialism (Heywood, 2013:39). This main purpose supports equality of outcome
opposed to equality of opportunity (Heywood, 2013:39). They trust that a measure of social
uniformity is the fundamental assurance of social strength and union, urging people to relate to
their kindred individuals (Heywood, 2013:39). The EFF promises free water, burial, housing and
electrical services to the poor (EFF, 2016:13-17). They conclude that the equality of outcome
will in turn ensure that the South African Economy will flourish because more citizens will
contribute to the wellbeing of the state.

The EFF’s essential mission is to exchange the economy to the proprietorship and for the
advantage of all South Africans. In this unique situation, local government is seen as a sphere
that is close to ordinary people in particular, the poor becomes the most important and critical
sphere and layer of government, which should give importance to the lives of the general
population (EFF, 2016:4).
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Pan-Africanism

The EFF also take a Pan-Africanist stance. Pan-Africanism is seen as an ideology which has the
slogan of “Africa for the Africans”, the complete freedom of the entirety of Africa (Legum,
1965:38-39). It dismisses colonialism in every one of its structures, including white control
(Legum, 1965:38-39). Pan-Africanism strives towards the Joined States of Africa, the ideal of a
completely united Africa through a progression of interconnecting regional leagues inside within
which there would be a constraint on national sway (Legum, 1965:38-39). Pan-Africanism
strives towards the rebirth of the African culture, the shared beliefs, values, traditions and
behavioural patterns of a particular group (Graham, Gumede, Mangcu, Neethling, Steyn Kotze &
Welsh, 2015:249)

The Pan-Africanist is on a journey for the `African identity, an assurance to recast African
culture into its own particular structures, drawing from its own past what is significant and
desirable, and connecting it to current thoughts where innovation is intensely highlighted
(Legum, 1965:38-39). Julius Malema makes this apparent through this excerpt from his opening
statement to the EFF manifest (2016:1),

“To capture political and state power through whatever revolutionary means possible to
transform the economy for the benefit for all, in particular Africans.”

The EFF emphasises this solidarity of black people all over the world and fraternal cooperation
of coloured people, by stating that this is their number one aim and reflects their commitment to
revolutionary change (Legum, 1965:38-39).

The EFF will challenge political power, since they are guided by the firm conviction that they
require political power to capture the state and afterwards change the economy with the
liberation of black South Africans, particularly Africans (EFF, 2016:1).
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Conclusion

After looking at the various political parties, namely the Democratic Alliance and the Economic
Freedom Fighters I could analyse and identify which ideologies they draw inspiration from.
Some of the political ideas these political parties believed in contradicted others, in specific
regard to the Democratic Alliance.

The Democratic Alliance manifesto was looked at through the lens of ideologies such as
Liberalism and Socialism, while I discussed the Economic Freedom Fighters with emphasis on
Marxism, Fascism, Socialism and Feminism.

I identified which ideologies served as the intellectual foundation of the Democratic Alliance
(DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and I identified the ideologies associated with
each political party and provided evidence to support my claims.