Nontando Nolutshungu | The year EFF turned Parliament into a picket line

The year 2025 came after a turbulent 2024 National and Provincial Government Election. This election marked the most significant restructuring of Parliament since the advent of democracy in 1994.

After its electoral support plunged to 40%, a dramatic fall that stripped it of its ability to govern independently for the first time, the African National Congress (ANC) chose to align itself with the Democratic Alliance (DA) and other parties committed to neoliberal policies and ideologies. This betrayal, embodied in the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU), affirmed the deep economic inequalities inherited from Apartheid, as the ANC surrendered itself to the very interests it once vowed to defeat.

A new player also entered Parliament, the Mkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), formed by former President Jacob Zuma. Its arrival sparked widespread commentary, with many political analysts and commentators suggesting that the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) would be pushed to the periphery of parliamentary politics.

Just when the political establishment was ready to write the EFF’s obituary, it defied the script and humbled every prophet of its downfall. The EFF emerged as the most decisive, consistent and grounded force in Parliament, cutting through the noise with purpose and authority.

At a time when the so called official opposition, the MKP, suffered leadership instability, internal fights, and tactical errors, the EFF stepped forward as the only political party, in Parliament, capable of providing stability, clarity, courage and intellectual authority. The EFF became the anchor in a Parliament adrift.

Many of the achievements of 2025 were not accidental. They were a direct expression of the strategic direction forged at the 3rd National People’s Assembly (NPA), a mandate that armed the organisation with a coherent and uncompromising programme. The EFF entered Parliament with a coherent plan to defend, rebuild and advance the struggle for Economic Freedom in our Lifetime.

The theme of 2025, “The Year of the Picket Lines,” defined our work. We transformed the corridors of Parliament into spaces where the voices of our people were heard, carrying their needs and aspirations into the heart of power. We lifted community struggles into the legislature.

We used committee hearings, interviews, motions, bills and debates to force the state to confront its failures and expose the chaos festering inside GNU. In 2025, the EFF made Parliament feel the pressure of ordinary South Africans.

We opened the year with the State of the Nation Address (SONA). The President and Commander in Chief (CIC) delivered a clear diagnosis of South Africa’s economic and social crisis, leaving no doubt about the challenges our nation faces, a moment that set the course for 2025. He also defined the role the EFF would play this year, a constructive and fearless voice of the people.

In the face of those defending collapsing austerity policies, the President stood firm, rejecting proposals that threatened to burden the poor, including VAT increases. With clarity, courage, and conviction, the EFF prepared to launch the most competitive and consequential Parliamentary programme since 1994.

In March 2025, the Minister of Finance tabled a budget supported by the ANC, DA, UDM, IFP, PA, PAC, GOOD, Rise Mzansi, BOSA and, shamefully, ActionSA. This GNU budget wanted to increase VAT from 15% to 17%. It came when millions of workers were already drowning in debt and hunger. It ignored an economy that had failed to grow above 1% for more than a decade.

The EFF fought this madness without fear. We mobilised society. We engaged in committees. We filed legal action in the Western Cape High Court. When government realised that the case was indefensible, they withdrew VAT increase, the budget and all related bills. That withdrawal was an EFF victory. It demonstrated that Parliament can be a picket line, and that the EFF can defeat anti-poor fiscal policy.

This battle also changed how the nation engages with the budget. Never again will fiscal policy be the secret language of elites. The EFF forced the country to understand the direct link between the budget and people’s daily lives. We showed that Parliament can be a site of public education.

Our work did not stop at the budget. The EFF turned Parliament into a site of relentless accountability, defending the rights of ordinary South Africans, in particular the youth. We exposed irregularities and potential nepotism during the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) Board appointments, insisting on transparency and accountability, and ensuring that appointments to public institutions were fair, open and in the public interest.

The EFF successfully challenged the former Minister of Higher Education’s decision to appoint Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) Board Chairpersons irregularly. We wrote letters, exposed wrongdoing, and placed pressure in the Higher Education Portfolio Committee, ultimately leading to the removal of the Minister and sending a clear message that such abuses of power would not go unchecked. We understood that the crisis in higher education goes beyond one individual.

When the new Minister placed SETAs under administration and re-appointed SETA CEOs without following the Skills Development Act, we challenged the government decisively, defending institutional integrity and highlighting conflicting testimonies from the Minister.

At the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), we exposed four (4) middleman companies that were appointed irregularly to disburse student funding through a system which is corrupt and ineffective. These middleman schemes in higher education represent corrupt fronts stealing resources that should be used to support the students and youth of our nation.

We also intervened to stop a proposal, Gazetted by the GNU, that would have allowed educational institutions to report students with unpaid fees to the credit bureau so that they may be blacklisted. The EFF’s efforts led to the Gazette being withdrawn, thus defending the dignity of black youth, and insisting that they not be criminalised for circumstances beyond their control.

We also revived a motion that had been ignored for nearly a year, adopted in August 2024, instructing Parliament to investigate statutory rape and forced marriages. Through relentless pressure, the EFF turned Parliament into a picket line, leading to committees eventually resolving to hold public hearings across the country, gathering testimonies directly from survivors and affected communities.

By November 2025, a report was finally adopted, marking a decisive victory for accountability and justice. This is what it means to lift voices from below into Parliament, turning their struggles into action and their demands into law.

When Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi blew the whistle on corruption reaching the highest levels of the police and intelligence structures, exposing the links between senior government officials, criminal networks and drug cartels that threatened the safety of our nation, the EFF acted immediately. We wrote to the Speaker of the National Assembly (NA) and demanded the formation of an Ad Hoc Committee to investigate allegations made by Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.

Many now speak as though the Ad Hoc Committee emerged spontaneously, but the truth is clear: without the EFF, there would have been no Parliamentary inquiry, no accountability , and no spotlight on the rot the South African Police Service (SAPS). The Ad Hoc Committee has exposed shocking levels of criminality, maladministration and political interference in policing.

Unlike a Commission of Inquiry, which can be ignored by a State President, an Ad Hoc Committee carries the power to issue binding Parliamentary resolutions. This is not only accountability in action, but a clear demonstration that the EFF turns words into concrete measures to defend the integrity of our state institutions.

In November, the National Assembly adopted another important EFF motion: a Parliamentary inquiry into violent crime in Cape Town, especially on the Cape Flats and surrounding townships. This happened after our members walked the streets and engaged communities directly. We showed Parliament that ignoring township crime is ignoring the poor. As this inquiry unfolds, the EFF will ensure it reflects the lived experiences of the people.

The EFF also returned Parliament to its most fundamental role: lawmaking, which is the very purpose of a National Legislature. For years, Parliament treated its legislative powers lightly, as if it were merely a debating club. In 2025, the EFF revived a bold, and decisive legislative programme, showcasing that Parliament can be an instrument to transform the lives of ordinary South Africans.

The President and Commander in Chief (CIC) of the EFF tabled the South African Reserve Bank Amendment Bill, which seeks to place the ownership of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) fully under the state, and this was subject of rigorous deliberation. In September, the EFF introduced the Liquor Amendment Bill to address the growing alcohol crisis, and in July the Insourcing Bill to rebuild state capacity and protect public sector workers.

Our legislative victories did not stop there. The Student Debt Relief Bill underwent extensive consultations, including submissions from Vice Chancellors, and TVET College Principals. It is now in its final stages, poised to relieve the crushing burden of hundreds of thousands of students who cannot receive their degrees and qualifications due to student debt.

The Electoral Amendment Bill, proposing automatic registration of voters, seeks to empower young people and strengthen democracy. By removing barriers to participation, it ensures that the voices of youth are no longer ignored, and that the future of our country must be shaped by those who will inherit it. This is not just reform to improve turnout among young people, it is a fight to make our democracy truly representative and inclusive.

In addition to these legislative interventions, the EFF began drafting another critical reform to defend the sovereignty and financial independence of the nation. We submitted a policy proposal to amend the Public Finance Management Act so that Parliament must approve all loans the Minister of Finance seeks from international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

This is rooted in a simple principle, that borrowing decisions cannot be left to one individual or institution. The Constitution requires democratic accountability, and Parliament must exercise oversight before debt is incurred. This is how sovereignty is defended, not in speeches but in law.

All these interventions represent more than isolated victories. They express a disciplined and strategic organisation that has turned Parliament into a Picket Line. We made it impossible for government to run away from public accountability. We brought community voices, academic evidence, legal reasoning and moral clarity into a space that, for decades, had been dominated by elite and privileged.

The year 2025 was not just another Parliamentary year. It was the year the EFF defended its foundational principles. It was the year we advanced our non-negotiable cardinal pillars. It was the year we reclaimed the true purpose of Parliament: to speak for the people, to legislate in the public interest, and to confront irrational policy with superior logic.

Those who predicted that the EFF would collapse after 2024 were proven wrong. Instead, the organisation demonstrated maturity, discipline and strategic focus. Our members participated in the most demanding Parliamentary programme to date and emerged respected, feared and intellectually authoritative. We demonstrated that Parliament cannot ignore the poor.

We showed that it is possible to change the direction of fiscal policy. We exposed corruption, we confronted incompetence and we directed national discourse.

Most importantly, the EFF reminded Parliament that it belongs to the people. Whether opposing the VAT increase, defending students against looting schemes, pushing for justice for victims of statutory rape, exposing rot in policing, or driving legislative reform, the EFF made 2025 the year that Parliament became a platform of activism.

Our work has laid a strong foundation for 2026. The organisation will consolidate legislative proposals, strengthen oversight on policing and crime, push for a developmental budgeting framework and continue fighting for insourcing and state capacity. We will insist that Parliament acts before debt is incurred. We will deepen public participation. We will continue to lift voices from below.

The legacy of 2025 is clear. The EFF proved that Parliamentary work is not ceremonial. It is not symbolic. It is strategic. When done with courage and clarity, it can change lives. The EFF caucus showed that it is possible to talk about economic policy without elitism. It is possible to legislate with purpose. It is possible to expose corruption without fear, and it is possible to transform Parliament into a space where the cries of South Africans are heard.

The year 2025 will be remembered as the year the EFF turned Parliament into a Picket Line, and it will be remembered as the year we redefined Parliamentary practice in the service of our people.

Commissar Nontando Nolutshungu is the EFF National Chairperson and parliamentary chief whip.