Economic Freedom Fighters chairperson Veronica Mente. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) chairperson Veronica Mente has become the first top six leader to raise her hand for re-election at the party’s elective conference set for December.
The EFF has in the past prohibited its members from campaigning for internal elective conferences. Party leaders in the Western Cape and Gauteng have signalled their support for Mente to retain her position.
In an interview with the Mail & Guardian, Mente said she was “available to stand for another term” should the EFF branches nominate her as the national chairperson.
In a bid to stamp out factions in the party, its central command team said it would clamp down on any individual campaigning for positions to encourage democratic processes to take place.
At its second party elections in 2019, EFF members raised concerns that the elective conference was being reduced to a rubber-stamp affair where the positions of the central command team — the highest decision body — had already been decided.
Mente said if she was not chosen this year, she would continue to serve the party wherever she was placed. But a member of the Western Cape provincial leadership said it was satisfied with her performance and would nominate her to remain.
“Although it is still early to conclude who we are supporting ahead of the conference, we know that the national chairperson position will once again be for comrade Mente. We have seen her work during these five years, she has supported us when it mattered most, and we think she should be in that position,” they said.
A member of the Gauteng leadership said the province would also back Mente in December because she had “proved her loyalty to the party”.
“The national chair has been visible and has the ability to command respect from members. She has been there for us in parliament, she has time for the party, which we did not see with comrade Dali [Mpofu, Mente’s predecessor],” they said.
“She started her work by advocating for schools and speaks about service delivery, and has been instrumental in how we go about in the coalition government, which we believe she should be allowed to finish.”
Mente said she would continue to advocate for the country’s poor, including students meant to benefit from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
“I want to continue being part of an organisation that makes sure that South Africans have access to quality education, free basic services, water and adequate electricity.”
She called on conference delegates to nominate members who they knew would work hard.
“Everyone is allowed to nominate a delegate who has been tried and tested at branch level. One thing about the EFF is that superiority logic rules. People must not just start raising their hands and offering to be president, deputies; they must be seen as a person who did not fail on the mandate given to them.”
Mente said all members elected to lead the party must address the deterioration of state-owned utilities Eskom and Transnet, which had imperilled the economy and jobs.
“The leaders of the party must be passionate about ensuring that there is a government that can rebuild the state-owned entities to assist our people to have a better life and create employment because functional state-owned entities become the first-class businesses or companies that should absorb as many of our people as possible which addresses unemployment,” she said.
Mente was elected national chairperson in 2019, taking over from Mpofu, who was recused because of his “hectic schedule” as an advocate.
Mente is a former bodyguard of the Cape Town mayor and later became a lawyer in Khayelitsha, volunteering for the Labour Community Advice Media and Education Centre to help workers claim their rights. She became an EFF MP in 2014.
The EFF’s elective conference will be attended by voting delegates from provincial branches mandated by the party’s national assembly guidelines.