EFF leader Julius Malema. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
Newly elected Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Gauteng provincial chairperson Nkululeko Dunga says the party will survive beyond Julius Malema and the current crop of leaders.
Speaking to the Mail & Guardian after he was elected unopposed this weekend Dunga, who was formerly the party’s Ekurhuleni leader, said the EFF was clear that its future was in the hands of the student command.
The provincial people’s assembly also elected Phillip Makwala to the position of deputy chairperson, Moshe Koma as secretary, Bethuell Munya as deputy secretary and Jeannette Maloka as treasurer.
The party has been criticised for having no succession strategy beyond Malema, who has been at the helm since the EFF’s formation in 2014. He was re-elected in 2019 for a second term as president.
In the interview, Dunga said he was certain the EFF as an organisation would continue to have leaders as effective as the present ones.
“We are all building an organisation and participating in the formation of an organisation that is going to last long even after we have left this earth … We are still participating and putting an effort to build [the organisation] and, therefore, it will not die with us,” he said.
“The organisation will continue with leaders who will be as effective as the current national leadership has been.”
He believed the EFF had a strong complement of leaders on the ground and in regional and provincial structures to take over the baton from Malema and the current central command team (CCT).
Allegations of ghost branches in Gauteng regions emerged as the party was preparing for its conference.
The M&G recently reported that a memorandum was leaked to the media accusing the Gauteng provincial leadership of purging members and manipulating processes to get a favourable outcome at its provincial conference, known as the Provincial People’s Assembly (PPA).
Malema has also been accused of trying to influence the election of the top five leaders in Gauteng. News outlet EWN reported he had called in Gauteng leaders to inform them of how their conference should unfold. Malema allegedly agitated for Dunga to become the provincial chairperson and for deputy chairperson Itani Mukwevho, who has been acting as chairperson since Mandisa Mashego’s departure, to return to his original position.
While Malema has denied these allegations, Dunga said it would not have been necessary to subject himself to the PPA, had he been Malema’s chosen leader.
“We have extensive responsibility and duty because the people around us felt that we had made an impact because the minute we want to legitimise the context of the fact that we are the chosen ones, it divorces our efforts and what we have done. At least at the level that we were serving in Ekurhuleni having ensured that the organisation grows, having ensured that there is no voter apathy towards the EFF, having ensured the stability of the EFF. It would then be completely erased and divorced from the discussion of what the EFF needs going forward,” he said.
He said the branches had engaged extensively in the leadership contest and only the voice of the delegates had led to his election. Dunga also attempted to dispel widespread claims that the EFF had no democratic processes, saying he was a prime example of a party member who had risen up the ranks through the structures.
“You look at the CCT that emerged in the second term, they have done stellar work – increased the voter base of the EFF, increased its position in society and influence in South African politics – also in Africa and internationally,” he said.
“There is a crop of leaders that is rising to the occasion. [We] have risen from the ranks as just branch chairs, to regional and now provincial, leaders. There is a progression not only of fighters and ground forces of the EFF, but also a continuous renewal of the EFF membership that is rising to the occasion. We have also stated that the EFF student command is the future of the EFF.”
In his closing address on Sunday, Malema said it would be irresponsible to assume that the organisation would be led by him until he died.
As local government coalitions implode in Gauteng, with court action expected to take place on Tuesday around the election of a speaker in the City of Johannesburg, Dunga said the party’s provincial leaders were looking ahead to the 2024 national elections, as well as bringing stability in the municipalities.
The 780 delegates mandated the newly elected provincial command team to lobby other political parties to advance its agenda and ideology. The party leaders were also mandated to establish satellite offices in former ANC strongholds and areas in Gauteng where the EFF had strong constituencies, including Soweto, Mamelodi and Tembisa.
Dunga said while the future of South African politics was leaning towards coalition governments, the EFF was instead looking for a co-governance arrangement.
“We took a posture to say let’s create a stable environment but that particular stable governance must equate to service delivery. A coalition government is self-destructing on its own,” he said, adding that the EFF was willing to entertain a motion of no confidence in the Democratic Alliance (DA) mayor in Johannesburg Mpho Phalatse.
A breakdown in the coalition between the DA and smaller parties has set off a power grab which will play itself out in court on Tuesday. This is as the ANC is planning to lodge the motion against the mayor after it and smaller parties were successful in removing Johannesburg speaker Vasco da Gama.
The multi-party coalition will challenge council chair Colleen Makhubele’s right to call a sitting for the election of a new speaker. Makhubele has broken rank with the coalition and sided with the ANC. She has called a special sitting set for Tuesday to elect a new speaker.
In Ekurhuleni, the EFF and the ANC have come out against DA mayor Tania Campbell, accusing her of seeking to influence the appointment of municipal officials.
The ANC said it had material evidence of a unilateral and illegal instruction by Campbell to institute a realignment of departments within the municipality. It claimed that she had attempted to bypass municipal legislation in terms of the process of institutional review.
ANC regional spokesperson Lesiba Mpya alleged that Campbell wanted to move the department of information and communication from under the member of the mayoral council for finance to corporate and shared services, against the guidelines of the Municipal Systems Act.
Dunga said that this spoke to a DA led by “delinquents”.
“This requires the EFF to not only interact with the DA, but also other organisations, when the time comes that we speak on a motion of no confidence against any government,” he said.
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