Sparks are flying after 19-year-old Jesse Griesel put herself forward to be a candidate for the EFF in the upcoming Student Representative Council elections at UCT. Race is now at the forefront of the discussion after the second year student made the announcement on Twitter.
besties I’m doing a thing! I have decided to run as an SRC candidate for the 2021/2022 term. I can’t begin to describe my excitement at the idea of serving the students at uct ❤️ I’d be ever so grateful for your sharing and interacting with my post ??? eeek ok bye pic.twitter.com/HCpECfoEfB
— jes / SRC Candidate #5 ☀️ (@JesseGriesel) September 28, 2021
Griesel’s enthusiasm was met with backlash and outrage after the public questioned her decision, with some telling her to reconsider:
@TosteroneTess – Hi girl, just imagine if your ancestors had adopted EFF principles – you would not have a uni to go to.
@shikkai123 – Stupidity at its finest. You do realize you joining a fascist party right?
@albie1802 – Maybe you should re consider. You should know that only Black lives matter. Yours mean nothing to them.
@holypathway – Are you aware that should the EFF comes into power it will get rid of the whites and take over their wealth and businesses? They might be using you to gain more votes from white people and later EFF MIGHT BECOME LIKE LATE PRESENT MUGABE AND WE WILL SEE WORSE POVERTY OF ZIMBABWE
@Just_A_Driver24 – Did this silly girl lose a bet or something?
@DJFlatWhite – Another token blonde, privileged, Camps Bay born child, filled with guilt and envy, joins the EFFing racist party.
@voodoopincushin – It’s not her fault folks…mommy and daddy have nurtured a Socialist lifestyle.
@JustXavierB – Jesse is in a cocoon of candy floss privilege and rainbow dreams. Hasn’t even contributed her first PAYE cheque to the nation, but she’s an expert on social repair.
Griesel responded to this by playfully calling out her so-called “besties”:
in retrospect when I told all my “besties” I was running I didn’t foresee this ??
— jes / SRC Candidate #5 ☀️ (@JesseGriesel) September 29, 2021
Her announcement was also met with unwavering support from the likes of one of the EFF’s best-known MPs, Nazier Paulsen, who sent his best wishes to Griesel.
Good luck fighter @JesseGriesel https://t.co/h08Ye1MNsV
— Nazier Paulsen (@NazierPaulsen) September 28, 2021
Others have responded positively by saying:
@JennMForster – Good luck Jess. Don’t let the critics get you down!
@ModiselleLl – NOTHING can/will stop you when you are led by your conscience. All the best Daughter of the soil. Amandla!
@mugambwa2 – Much respect comrade @JesseGriesel represent serve and silence all the critics : go girl
Meanwhile, the EFF plans to deal with inequality in Cape Town after stating that the systems in place benefits the “bourgeoisie” instead of the poor.
This comes as the EFF in Cape Town prepares to become the governing party ahead of the local government elections next month, as IOL reports.
“White people’s complaints are how loud the dog is barking, they are looking for bicycle lanes.
“Meanwhile, on our side, it’s a case of wanting toilets for our people.
“It’s a case of wanting electricity and roads with no potholes,” the party’s regional secretary, Banzi Dambuza said.
Dambuza went on to say that rich people shouldn’t think that once the EFF is in power, they will be discarded and not given services, IOL adds.
“There is a misconception that we are going to take from those that are privilege now and shut them off.
“We maintain that we want an equal city, the poor of the poorest must be able to get the same services received by the rich,” Dambuza explains.