EFF aiming to gauge its chances in 2019 election

The three-year-old EFF wants to use the local government election to test its support ahead of the 2019 general elections.

EFF national chairman Dali Mpofu told the Sunday Times that the party would be happy to win a municipality, but its main goal was to grow the 6% of the vote it achieved in the last general elections, to measure its chances in 2019.

"An important factor would be how many votes we get across the country, how far we are from closing the gap. Have we doubled or tripled our support?

"It would be a sign of what might happen in the future. If we grow at the same rate, that might be an indication for 2019," said Mpofu.

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Recent surveys indicate the EFF will grow its support to between 9% and 12% of the vote in Wednesday's elections. The party is expected to play king-maker should the ANC fail to reach 50% in Tshwane or Johannesburg.

But the party has come under fire for its election manifesto, with local government experts labelling some promises unrealistic. One proposal deemed too costly is that of building a clinic in every one of the country's 4200 municipal wards.

Kevin Allan, a local government expert and MD of online monitoring agency Municipal IQ, cautioned against any municipality going it alone in the provision of healthcare.

"While health is a provincial function, most well-run municipalities would have good co-ordination between a provincial health department and municipal officials, and it is good policy for every municipality to ensure that a local clinic, especially its infrastructure, is maintained in partnership with relevant Department of Health officials and local personnel," said Allan.

The EFF's election undertakings also include:

Working independently from provinces to provide housing;

block_quotes_start Most of the monies that are allocated to these institutions get returned at the end of the year unspent block_quotes_end

Making wealthy residents pay more for services;

Requiring mines operating in EFF-controlled municipalities to make contributions to develop the areas; and

Providing free land to developers on condition that part of the business built there is ceded to the municipality.

Mpofu defended the manifesto, saying it was pro-poor and feasible. He dismissed Allan's claims that building a 24-hour clinic in every ward would cripple the state.

"There is no way a clinic can cripple the state when we have police stations that are open 24 hours ... Sickness doesn't say: 'I'll come at eight in the morning.' There is no shortage of money in South Africa; most of the monies that are allocated to these institutions get returned at the end of the year unspent," said Mpofu.

The party has used its president, Julius Malema, to draw crowds to its election events, while the ANC has used celebrities to attract young voters.

Mpofu said: "When the ANC advertise their rallies, they put the names of the artists and we don't. Any artist that performs at our rallies becomes a surprise."

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