[18] At a 26 July 2013 press briefing in Soweto, Malema announced that the new party had over 1000 members, double the 500 required for registration with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

[20] In 2015, the EFF suspended MP Lucky Twala and expelled three MPs, Mpho Ramakatsa, Andile Mngxitama and Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalala.

[31] In March 2023 the party attempted to organise a national shutdown in protest of loadshedding and calling for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to step down.

[36][37][38] In June 2024, the EFF refused to join the ANC-led Government of National Unity (GNU), because of the Democratic Alliance (DA) and Freedom Front Plus (FF+) participation in the coalition.

[40] The EFF "draws inspiration from the broad Marxist–Leninist tradition and Fanonian schools of thought in their analyses of the state, imperialism, culture and class contradictions in every society", according to its constitution.

[47] It has criticised both the dominant African National Congress and the primary opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, for enacting policies that it claims have sold out the black people of South Africa to capitalism as cheap labour.

However, after the 2016 local elections in South Africa, Malema suggested that the EFF would back the Democratic Alliance in hung-metro areas[clarification needed], while reiterating that it would not form a coalition with any political party.

[49][50] During further protests in 2015, the EFF delivered demands that included the socialisation of the mining sector and called for more explicit targets for the 26% BEE ownership required by law.

[59] The EFF has been strongly critical of the government of Eswatini, one of the last absolute monarchies in the world, advocating for democratic reforms in the country and the removal of borders between it and South Africa.

[65] Following the death of Queen Elizabeth the EFF announced that they would not mourn her passing instead stating that "she never once acknowledged the atrocities her family inflicted on native people that Britain invaded across the world.

[59] During the Lady R incident the party stated their support for any prospect of South African exports of military equipment to Russia that might assist in its invasion of Ukraine.

This was potentially enough for the party to hold the balance of power in provinces where the governing African National Congress was in danger of losing its absolute majority.

[108] A number of articles published by investigative journalists have accused the party of using their influence to earn improper payments from government suppliers in cities where the EFF has significant representative power.

[112] Following the publication of a South African Reserve Bank report[113] into the collapse of VBS Mutual Bank implicating former EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu's brother media reports came out alleging that Shivambu, who joined Jacob Zuma's UMkhonto weSizwe (political party) in August 2024, received R10 million in illicit payments from VBS prior to it being placed under curatorship in March 2018.

[120] After being approached by the Mail & Guardian for comment on his personal financial expenses Floyd Shivambu admitted that money from VBS, channeled through his brother, was used to buy his Range Rover Sport valued at R680,000.

[131] After former VBS chairman Tshifhiwa Matodzi was sentenced to 15 years in prison in July 2024, the Democratic Alliance and ActionSA demanded that police conduct a fresh investigation of Malema and Shivambu.

[136] During violent university protests characterized by arson and vandalism, EFF Youth leader Omphile Seleke posted instructions on how to make petrol bombs on social media.

This led to charges being laid by the police and Equity Court against the party, amid speculation that the instance might be in breach of South Africa's Electoral Code of Conduct.

[154][155] In January 2020, the EFF was forced to publicly apologize and pay damages following a Gauteng High Court judgment that the party had made and spread false allegations that two journalists, Thandeka Gqubule and Anton Harber, had been apartheid-era U.S. 'StratCom' agents.

[156][157] In May 2019, the EFF was found guilty of defamation of character by the South Gauteng High Court and ordered to pay R500,000 in damages to former Finance Minister Trevor Manuel.

[158][159] Following the judgement, Manuel stated that he would be donating the R500,000 in damages to victims of the VBS Mutual Bank scandal in which the EFF is alleged to have participated.

[160] Following a string of court-case losses for inciting supporters to commit acts of intimidation (against journalist Brown), land invasion (which case was brought by AfriForum), or defamation of character (against ANC politician Manuel), the party was left with combined court costs amounting to almost R1 million.

[164][165][166] In addition to Malema, other senior EFF members—such as Dali Mpofu and Griffiths Madonsela—have made accusations, without evidence, against the judiciary and attacked the character of individual judges.

[182] The South African Minority Rights Equality Movement initiated a court case against Malema for inciting racial sentiment after he stated that a "majority of Indians are racist" at an EFF Youth Day rally in 2018.

[183] The EFF was criticized by the South African Council of Churches, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation,[184] and the ANC[185] for comparing Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to a "dog" while protesting against the Zondo Commission inquiry into government corruption.

[192][193] The EFF leadership and its supporters have been criticized for using Gordhan's second name, Jamnadas, as a racial dog whistle to highlight his Indian ethnicity in a pejorative way and question his status as a South African on social media.

[194] ANC member and government minister, the late Jackson Mthembu, accused the EFF of being racist and having a "deep-seated hatred" for Indian South Africans when he criticized the party's pursuit of Gordhan during a parliamentary debate.

[197] In April 2019, a former member of the EFF's central command, Thembinkosi Rawula, accused senior party leaders of dictatorial leadership practices.

[217] Gareth van Onselen, who worked for the Democratic Alliance for twelve years,[218] accused the party of being "fascist" due to its legacy of racial prejudice in a 2018 article.

[168] According to Satgar, its appeals to "race baiting, nativist nationalism, hypermasculinity, and disposition to violence are similar in these respects to the new fascisms rising in Europe, the United States, and India.