The Economic Freedom Fighters have inflicted multiple damages on their onetime parent body and present nemesis the ANC, changes realised precisely in the time of the tortuous and staggered disintegration of the Tripartite Alliance and its constituent member Cosatu. Cosatu's mutation is still unfolding but it is clear that South African politics has entered a new phase. The emerging period stands out for the weakening of the ANC internally (pivoting around the faction that spins for Zuma), and Alliance-wise for the emasculation of the SACP and Cosatu. Two sets of developments were crucial: the remaining part of Cosatu trying to sustain a compliant federation, on the terms of the S'dumo Dlamini faction; and the Numsa-based Irwin Jim grouping, expelled but still claiming the Cosatu tradition, while advancing the formation of a workers’ party.

Had it not been for the fallout around Zuma a different ANC, Cosatu and Alliance would have prevailed. Highly significant as it is, the EFF is but one streak on the left political landscape, although admittedly one with strategic and electoral advantage – for the time being – over the rest of the left. It has solid populist-nationalist support, high-profile leadership, and enjoys sound media coverage – besides having established a credible electoral footing in 2014.

This chapter focuses on the EFF and the labour-aligned left, both important for longer-term left politics and the weakening of the ANC. It assesses the ‘moment’ of Cosatu fragmentation and the associated failure of the Tripartite Alliance. It takes stock of the political conjuncture, considering whether a left party is rising. It then focuses on the EFF and its ideological-policy positioning, also asking whether the EFF is in fact a left project with sustainability in terms of organisational, electoral and grassroots appeals. Can it fend off the ‘Cope curse’? The chapter explores both the enigmatic EFF leadership and the nemesis it finds in President Jacob Zuma, and then returns to the fallout from the Cosatu war, issues around the formation of a rival union organisation, and the emerging workers’ party. It reflects on the hurdles a workers’ party would have to overcome in order to become an alternative to the ANC, the EFF and the DA.

The rebellion of the lambs

The EFF rapidly grew out of its ANC Youth League shoes to become a 6 per cent opposition party.