Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) deputy president Floyd Shivambu has resigned from the party to join Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, following tensions that have arisen between the founding members of the Red Berets.
Shivambu made the announcement during a press briefing on Thursday at the party’s headquarters in Johannesburg, saying he had informed party leader Julius Malema that he was leaving. Malema was also at the briefing.
His departure comes four months before the party’s structures hold their third conference to elect new leaders, in which the current leadership was set to see a close contest for the deputy and secretary general positions. It also follows the EFF’s underwhelming performance in 29 May general elections, where it lost the position of the country’s third largest party to the MK party.
Several EFF sources said the leadership’s relationship had become strained, characterised by “disrespect, the undermining of Shivambu, and a vote of no confidence” in his leadership capabilities, which prompted his departure.
One source said Shivambu was approached by party members and wealthy business people who promised to fund his campaign should he challenge Malema for the party’s leadership in December.
Shivambu was allegedly pushed to look for a new political home following warnings at the party’s 10th celebration gala dinner by Malema after the EFF leader caught wind of his intentions to contest for the top position at the end of the year.
“Internal strife is always expected in every party, but that move in front of the media and many important guests was very wrong. Made the leadership feel and look like minions who cannot have a voice. Floyd was very upset that night and obviously stopped giving a damn about the EFF. And who can blame him? Julius had become insufferable,” said one source close to Shivambu.
But, on Thursday, Malema refuted the claims of tensions between Shivambu and himself.
“There was never a discussion to replace Floyd as the deputy president and that there’s a possibility of contestation between the two of us. So this could have not necessitated purging and fighting between me and Floyd,” he said.
Malema accepted Shivambu’s resignation, but added that the door would always be open if he wished to return.
Malema, Shivambu and other members of the party’s leadership structures met for most of most of Wednesday.
Shivambu said: “My non-renewal of the EFF’s membership is not a vote of no confidence in the organisation but a revolutionary act that would allow progressive forces to unite and work towards the agenda.”
Sources said Shivambu has been looking for a new political home for a while.
He is said to have approached ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula last year with a view to defecting before the 29 May elections, but was rebuffed. Relations between the ANC and the EFF have since soured, with Shivambu being seen as the reason the Red Berets locked themselves out of the multiparty negotiations that resulted in the formation of a government of national unity.
Following failed attempts with the ANC, sources said Shivambu then approached Zuma who was initially requested to join the EFF before the elections in a bid to unseat the ANC.
“Shivambu was very adamant to leave. Everyone in the party was well aware the relationship has been sour. The nail to the coffin was when he was made an errand boy at the party’s manifesto launch and insulted because they did not fill up the stadium, the DP [deputy president] decided there that he was done with this organisation and didn’t care what everyone was saying about it,” another source added.
Shivambu, who was deployed to KwaZulu-Natal during the election campaign, is said to have used the opportunity to get close to Zuma and the MK partyMK party structures.
“KZN was a strategic move for DP because he got to sip tea with Msholozi and get to understand the party. The DP had us all fooled because we thought he was gathering support for the EFF’s conference but now it is clear that all the so-called supporters were MK members masquerading as EFF,” one source close to Malema said.
The MK party is now the official opposition after the Democratic Alliance joined the government of national unity.
The EFF redeployed Shivambu from KwaZulu-Natal after failing to ensure the party regained support ahead of the May elections.
Some insiders accused him of using his time in the province to diminish the EFF’s support there, which dropped to just over 2% from about 10%.
Commenting on Shivambu’s resignation letter on Thursday, Malema said he was aware that his second-in-command would not leave alone, because his followers would also join him.
“Floyd is not the only one, [EFF MP] Jimmy Manyi has also resigned to go and join MK and there will be many others who are going to leave the EFF because they have got their loyalty and support to the deputy president,” he said.
“Fighters on the ground should be prepared for more people to follow but this will not serve as a point of collapse of the EFF,” Malema said.
Former EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi and party chairperson Veronica Mente are said to be considering following in Shivambu’s footsteps.
Malema would, however, not be drawn into answering questions about this.
The sources said Shivambu’s departure opens an opportunity in the EFF for Ndlozi, because he would face no opposition if he were to seek promotion to secretary general given that the incumbent, Marshall Dlamini, is expected to become deputy president.
One EFF member said: “We are very worried that Ndlozi could follow Shivambu, considering the proximity of their relationship, but if he chooses to stay, he would fit in very well to the secretary general position, instilling the hope we need in the party.
“Should Ndlozi leave, we risk a serious purge, which could be the end of the party.”
Malema likened Shivambu’s resignation to the death of his mother.
“To me he is not just a comrade but a brother and he will remain a brother, even when he pursues his political career differently.
“We formed this organisation together,” Malema said.
“When he sent me a letter yesterday I felt the same pain when I received the news of the passing of my mother.
“This is a testing moment. An organisation that has lived beyond 10 years has never been through a testing moment like this.”
The MK party confirmed that Manyi and Shivambu would join it, and be “deployed respectively according to their strengths and expertise”.
“As leadership, we ask that all members of uMkhonto weSizwe party welcome these two progressive comrades as they begin to form part of driving the agenda of the revolution,” the MK party said.
“We wish them well as they pick up the spear and continue the fight for the emancipation of the downtrodden and marginalised people in our country.”
Malema said the party would not appoint an interim replacement for Shivambu because it would create unnecessary expectations that the temporary deputy leader will hold the position on a permanent basis.