Photo: Twitter
Photo: Twitter
Jesse Griesel isn’t your average 19-year-old. The fierce political advocate, who describes herself as ‘a follower of Karl Marx and Steve Biko’, has put herself forward to be a candidate for the EFF in the upcoming Student Representative Council elections. What is more, she already has the support of some high-profile names in Mzansi.
Who is Jesse Griesel? White EFF candidate makes a splash
Amongst the first to congratulate Jesse’s nomination was Nazier Paulsen, one of the EFF’s best-known MPs. Another politician cut from the same firebrand mold as Julius Malema, Paulsen sent his best wishes to the UCT student:
Good luck fighter @JesseGriesel https://t.co/h08Ye1MNsV
— Nazier Paulsen (@NazierPaulsen) September 28, 2021
Phumzile Van Damme backs Griesel to ‘make racists mad’
But earning support from your own party is easy. Indeed, Griesel may be more impressed by the fact that she’s ended up with the backing of Phumzile Van Damme – the former DA MP turned misinformation-buster. She took to Twitter earlier this week, praising the SRC nominee for ‘living her freest life’.
“Mandela’s kids living their freest lives. Yes nina bo lovey. I love this for you. I love that it’s going to make racist people mad. You’re doing great sweetie.” | Phumzile Van Damme
How many white EFF voters are there?
It’s understood that the ‘white voter base’ for the EFF has been growing steadily over the years. A survey taken before the 2019 Elections estimated that roughly 11 000 white voters would back the Red Berets at the ballot box.
Since then, several white South Africans have gone viral for declaring their allegiance to the EFF – perhaps none more so than Jack Markowitz. The young revolutionary became the subject of intense media focus, when he attended the party’s protest in Brackenfell last year and outlined his own political philosophies:
“I’ve been an EFF member since I was 18. I fully agree with their message. No other party is speaking about the issue of generational wealth. The ANC is a neoliberal party. We, as white people, are holding onto our parents’ money. There was no healing in 1994. There needs to be mass reparations.”
SRC candidate ‘did not foresee’ public reaction
Jesse Griesel is set to find herself subject to the same scrutiny. The EFF and its senior leadership have never been shy in sharing their criticisms of white people – but the SRC candidate doesn’t take it personally.
In fact, she’s already demonstrating a superb ability to collect everything in her stride.
in retrospect when I told all my “besties” I was running I didn’t foresee this ????????
— jes (@JesseGriesel) September 29, 2021
