Economic Freedom Fighters commander-in-chief, Julius Malema. Photo: @EFFSouthAfrica
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) will support the motion of no confidence against KwaZulu-Natal premier Thami Ntuli, brought by the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, its leader Julius Malema said on Thursday.
The move will surprise many, as Malema had previously declared Jacob Zuma’s MK — which displaced the EFF as South Africa’s third-largest party last year — as “enemy number one” and accused it of trying to destroy his organisation.
The motion against the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) premier will be heard at the KwaZulu-Natal legislature on Monday.
“There is a motion on the table. Irrespective of who put that motion forward, if it makes sense to the EFF, we are supporting it,” Malema told a media briefing.
“We supported the motion of no confidence in Parliament against Zuma that was brought by the Democratic Alliance, with whom we have serious ideological differences, but the motion made sense at the time, and we supported it.”
In October, MK signalled its intention to enter into agreements with third parties, excluding the IFP. If successful, KwaZulu-Natal could be forced to hold an early election, and the MK party, EFF, as well as the National Freedom Party (NFP) would likely form a ruling coalition that excludes both the ANC and the IFP.
The legislature has 80 members. If MK, EFF, and NFP were to form a pact, it would be divided 40–40, leaving the provincial government unable to pass any legislation. MK has 37 seats, the EFF has two, and the NFP has one. The IFP holds 15 seats, the ANC 14 and the DA 11.
On Thursday, Malema said if the MK party was serious about taking the province, it should begin negotiating with other political parties as soon as possible.
“If they are serious about that motion, Zuma must be part of the negotiation right from tonight. Over the weekend, we are going to speak even to the ANC. We are going to speak to them to see if the ANC is prepared to engage with us formally,” he said.
“If it is not prepared to speak to us formally, nothing stops us from going to individual members of the legislature to speak to their conscience and do what is in the best interest of the people of KZN.”
The ANC’s stance on coalitions is that if a party wins a majority of votes — whether in councils, provincial legislatures, or nationally — it should be allowed to lead coalition formation. The ANC also maintains that where it has the majority, it should be given the mayoral chain, premiership or presidency.
This position is evident in municipalities such as Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, in the Gauteng provincial legislature, and in the national government.
Malema said the EFF cannot dictate to the ANC who it should place in positions of power in areas where they co-govern, even if the red berets disagree with the candidate.
“The MKP has the majority in KZN. The people of KZN have given you a signal. Whether there is capacity in the MKP or not, I’m really not interested. Maybe the people of KZN love them foolishly like that, but who am I to determine what the people of KZN want?” he said.
“They have spoken; they have given us direction, and we ought to respect that — we have to respect democracy.”
The MK party and the EFF recently voted with the ANC in the Gauteng legislature to defend Premier Panyaza Lesufi against a motion of no confidence brought by the DA.
Gauteng has a minority government, which has been kept in power with the support of MK and the EFF.
Insiders in both parties have said that MK and the EFF plan to use this cooperation to persuade the ANC to vote with them to remove Ntulii in KwaZulu-Natal.
“The motion in Gauteng did not make sense. Panyaza has made blunders; Panyaza is not our favourite cup. If there was a way, we would have our own preferred premier as the EFF — but you are not going to use your issues with the ANC in Gauteng to destabilise the government for political expediency. We are not going to allow that,” Malema said on Thursday.