According to the party's discussion document, emphasis will be placed on dealing with internal factionalism, where loyalty to individuals and lobby groups often takes precedence over loyalty to the organisation.
(Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images)
Rebuilding dysfunctional structures after its election losses on 29 May and dealing with factionalism ahead of the 2026 local government elections are among the issues to be discussed at the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) third elective conference in December.
Branch delegates are set to discuss internal unifying strategies that will make the party “attractive and competitive” at the third National People’s Assembly scheduled for 12 to 15 December 2024 in Nasrec, Johannesburg.
The party also plans to discuss its leadership problems, its relationship with “biased” media and its 29 May electoral outcomes, in addition to electing a new central command team.
In its discussion documents released last week, the party said despite progress in national and provincial elections, the EFF has struggled to replicate this success at the local level, where its grassroots structures remain underdeveloped.
The party acknowledged that this inconsistency raises concerns about its capacity to work with and influence people directly, highlighting the need for a strategic overhaul as it seeks to strengthen its presence in municipal politics.
The EFF saw a significant decline in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West, and Limpopo. Despite recording some marginal growth in the Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Free State, these gains were not sufficient to offset the losses in its traditional strongholds.
The document highlighted that “the stark reality is that with 9.52% of electoral support, a decrease from 10.7% in 2019, 90% of South Africa’s electorate does not as yet believe in the capacity of the EFF to lead South Africa”.
In some voting districts, the EFF failed to secure any votes, underscoring its inconsistent presence and the uneven strength of its ground operations.
“Perhaps a more generous assessment is that we still need 56% more of South Africa’s voters to vote for the EFF in order to achieve the two-thirds majority needed to effect the changes we proclaim should happen in South Africa,” the party said.
The EFF should not take comfort in marginal growth, because this year’s “electoral outcomes signal a stagnating or declining organisation”.
The document also pointed to the irregular functioning of the EFF’s branches, many of which only become active in the lead-up to elections or conferences. This limited its ability to lead local struggles or maintain a strong presence outside of major election cycles.
It is this failure to keep the red flag flying at local level that has seen EFF leader Julius Malema threaten to remove leaders whose “laziness” has contributed to the party’s dismal electoral performance.
The document added that emphasis will be placed on dealing with internal factionalism, where loyalty to individuals and lobby groups often takes precedence over loyalty to the organisation.
This has resulted in internal divisions, particularly as leadership contests have intensified after the resignation of Floyd Shivambu as deputy president to join Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party earlier this year.
Marshall Dlamini, the current secretary general, is seen as the frontrunner to take over as deputy president, but his growing influence has led to the emergence of factions aligned with different power bases.
The document added that factionalism poses a threat to the EFF’s cohesion, because competing groups in the party often operate as semi-independent units with their own loyalties, meeting places and agendas.
“This disunity has the potential to undermine the party’s ability to present a unified front, particularly as it looks ahead to future elections,” it said.
The party is set to discuss ways to address the dysfunction in its regional and provincial structures where it argues that there is a disconnect from the grassroots, with provincial leaders failing to work meaningfully with their constituencies.
“Many regional structures do not meet consistently, and there is a lack of mechanisms to monitor and support the activities of branches effectively,” it said.
It added that The EFF’s presence across voting districts is inconsistent, with some branches only active in specific districts while being absent from others.
In response to these problems, the EFF’s leadership is expected to put forward initiatives to strengthen the party’s internal capacity. One of the proposals is the establishment of an accredited political education college.
“This institution would be tasked with providing training on key subjects such as ideology, organising, and governance, with the aim of developing the party’s leadership at all levels.”
The college would be headed by a full-time central command team member and staffed by trained educators.
The party also plans to amend its constitution to parachute “skilled” candidates to higher positions to advance its agenda.
This comes after leaders who defected to opposition parties accused the party of violating its constitution by electing members who have not been in the party for longer than a year to leadership positions.
Former EFF limpopo chairperson Tshilidzi Maraga, who defected to the MK party last month, accused the party of not respecting its constitution, which bars members who have not been in the party for more than a year from ascending to leadership positions.
While the party acknowledges its shortcomings, it has also shifted the blame to the media, accusing it of campaigning against it during elections.
The Red Berets have long accused South Africa’s mainstream media of bias and sensationalism, claiming that news outlets are aligned with the interests of “white monopoly capital” to deliberately undermine the party’s political message.
In the document, the party argues that the media often misrepresents its policies and actions, portraying it as a disruptive force rather than looking at the substance of its political platform.
It added that the media unfairly focuses on controversies surrounding its leadership, such as Malema’s fiery rhetoric or the VBS Mutual Bank scandal, while neglecting the party’s broader ideological positions on issues such as land expropriation, economic justice and anti-capitalist reform. The party also believes that its successes — particularly in mobilising the youth and marginalised communities — are downplayed or ignored by media outlets.
It said this had contributed to its decline in electoral performance.