/ 26 September 2016

​EFF blasts KZN ‘rebels, hellbent on destabilising the party’

Floyd Shivambu now has a master's degree. It's an actual qualification
Floyd Shivambu now has a master's degree. It's an actual qualification

The Economic Freedom Fighters has denounced three of its officials who called for the suspension of its deputy president, Floyd Shivambu, branding them “agents of the ANC, hellbent on destabilising the party”.

“We are aware of a well-orchestrated plan to destabilise the EFF like it has been done with the Congress of the People, National Freedom Party and many others,” said a senior EFF leader, who spoke to the Mail & Guardian on condition of anonymity.

“In time, you will see documented proof of movement of money [from ANC-linked business people to disgruntled EFF members] and [other related] transactions.”

In an unexpected move, the EFF disbanded all of its structures KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape shortly after the elections due to poor performance and after the two provinces had allegedly inflated the number of EFF branches by more than double.

Nhlanhla Mthembu, the chairperson of a disbanded EFF branch in eThekwini, has been leading the call for Shivambu’s suspension.

He told the M&G that he held EFF leader Julius Malema’s right-hand man responsible for the party’s poor performance in the August local government elections. “He is trying to hijack the party from the commander-in-chief [CIC].”

About 200 disgruntled party members attended a self-styled EFF “policy conference” organised by Mthembu in Durban last week. They resolved to call for the suspension of Shivambu, deputy secretary general Hlengiwe Hlophe-Maxon and central command team member Marshall Dlamini.

“They cost us because we knew there was a budget from national office and that budget was for all provinces, but [KwaZulu-Natal] was not supplied with any funds.

“Only a few individuals aligned to Floyd were getting those privileges. We understand that it’s a plot against us and other provinces. There is a mission by Floyd to hijack the organisation from the CIC,” said Mthembu.

In response, EFF secretary general Godrich Gardee said the “KZN rebels had expelled themselves” by holding a bogus press conference and organising a policy conference without the national leadership’s blessing.

The party says the inability of the eThekwini Fighters to capitalise on ANC infighting in the province had proven their ineptitude.

“The ANC was excelling in self-destruction in KZN. There were protests, barricades, burning of tyres, disowning of ANC candidates. The whole of eThekwini was unhappy. Who stopped them from winning those wards? They should have taken advantage. They got about eight seats in eThekwini. Look at Tshwane – Fighters realised the ANC was self-destructing and attacked. They came back with 25 seats,” Gardee told the M&G.

Senior EFF sources said they suspected Durban businessperson Sphelele Mavundla, whose architecture firm has contracts with the provincial and municipal governments in KwaZulu-Natal, was bankrolling the party’s disgruntled members.

Mthembu admitted to flying to Johannesburg twice during September to meet with other EFF members to plan the conference. He confirmed that Mavundla funded both his trip and the conference, but said he only turned to the Durban businessperson because he is a close friend.

“We asked for support from him as a friend. I want to make it clear I never received [a salary] from the [EFF]. Instead, I was supportive of the EFF because of my good salary at BAT [British American Tobacco]. [Mavundla is] supportive of us. He’s not aligned to any political party or a member of any party,” he said.

Mthembu says, prior to his fallout with the party’s senior leadership, he was in financial difficulty after quitting his job at British American Tobacco to work for the EFF.

“When I joined I had no financial problems. I was financially free. Now that I’m not that free [and require financial assistance], these people just want to hide behind the bushes and distract us from Floyd. They don’t want to sit down and discuss our issues. Instead they are weakening our argument [by alleging that we are being bankrolled by the ANC],” he said.

Gardee said the EFF had to be vigilant about the criticism levelled against its leadership, which appeared to be unfounded. He said the party would not easily dismiss the possibility that its ranks have been infiltrated.

“It would be naive to think that all our adversaries and opponents will not, in one way or another, get engaged in intelligence gathering and dirty work.

“It may not necessarily be the ANC alone, it may even be white monopoly capital. It will be any other members of the intelligence community.”

But the eThekwini rebels describe this reaction as smoke and mirrors, meant to divert attention away from their allegations against the party’s senior leaders.

Gardee said the EFF leadership has never used its power to take unilateral decisions to purge political enemies.

But this is not the first time the party has taken decisive action against its own. It has suffered three splits since its inception.

First, senior members Andile MngxitamaMpho Ramakatsa and Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalala left the party following its first national congress in December 2014, after objecting to the leadership voting process.

Next, the Gauteng leadership left after allegations that its leader had used a party credit card for nonparty business.

Now the EFF structures in KwaZulu-Natal are rebelling. But they refuse to go down without a fight and plan to exhaust all of the party’s processes.

“We are still members of the EFF. If we are expelled, we say fine, we need to get letters. You can’t just do it over the media,” said Mthembu.

“That’s the new trend and we don’t know where it comes from. We need to exhaust internal processes and are willing to subject ourselves to the disciplinary hearing.”