Quo vadis, EFF? Finding a new leadership style and niche in a crowded and lethal playing field 

Two months before the Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) elective conference set for December 2024, the triumphant red brigade, once led by the dynamic revolutionary duo of Floyd Shivambu and Julius Malema, is fighting for survival and political relevance.

Riddled with suspicion and intrigue in the aftermath of Shivambu’s brazen defection to the uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party in August and led by an inflexible, dictatorial commander-in-chief, who will be Malema’s 2IC and is the party prepared to alter its course?

Add to all of this the reality that outside the “progressive caucus” – which Jacob Zuma hopes will “recapture” government” – is the fact that Shivambu and Malema have the VBS collusion and criminal allegations trailing them like a bad smell. Zuma too has his own court battles ahead.

These obstacles in the road still exist, and how the National Prosecuting Authority elects to act on the damning revelations made about both EFF leaders by former VBS chair, Tshifhiwa Matodzi, currently serving 495 years in prison, is bound to set off a tipping of dominoes.

The political playing field that Malema and the EFF must now conquer has been inexorably altered by the delivery of a coalition government between the ANC and other opposition parties after the May 2024 election. A centre has been created and seems to be holding.

Outside of that new centre, in the cauldrons of the progressive forces, rumours of spies and agents ate away at hearts and minds as big names jumped ship from EFF to join the MK party.

Read more: Farewell to Floyd: EFF’s brooding iconoclast defects to MK

Time for a rebrand?

Shivambu’s defection to Zuma’s pop-up party, as well as the later betrayal by Busisiwe Mkhwebane, Mzwanele Manyi, Fana Mokoena and Ringo Madlingozi, has torn the entrails and some of the grey matter from the bloodied mother body of the EFF.

With such high-profile individuals parachuted into leadership, who apparently used the EFF as a soft landing before moving on to more fecund fields of political gold, ground forces are grumbling.

Earlier this week, SAfm’s Oliver Dickson on Night-Talk, interviewed Professor Sysman Motloung of the North West University, who observed that the only way the EFF will survive is for it to turn away from its  “hooligan” politics to focus on an ideology with more value and benefit to society.

Public trust in the EFF is low, as evidenced by its election defeat by the MK party, he said. And it is Malema’s leadership style now that has to change, or the trash heap of history awaits both him and the party, Motloung said.

“Malema has exemplified and characterised how the members behave towards the public. They are rude, they are insensitive and that has come to characterise the party,” he said.

Rather than the threats, violence, noise, political flip-flops, party streamers, crane hoists and Gucci lifestyles, the public now “wants something different”, something a little more grown-up.

Motloung said the only space open on the left of the political spectrum is Black Consciousness (BC), which has been “virtually abandoned”.

(Malema is expected to be re-elected unopposed, BTW.)

Reigniting Black Consciousness

Instead of crude language and attacks, EFF leaders and ground force members should embark on a “campaign of rebuilding”, Motloung suggested.

He added that the party should not stop being an “engaged” and young force with “revolutionary fire” in its heart; however, leadership style and engagement need to change drastically.

“What is the leadership style that can inject confidence? A leadership that is inclusive and tolerant, one that is willing to be persuaded and willing to give others the limelight. It cannot be a one-man show with anointed leaders.”

Motlaung said that he is of the view that while the EFF has been dabbling with BC, it now has to choose it as a political path.

“They need to work on what it means to be black in post-apartheid South Africa and to transform the mindset and the actual lived environment.”

This means cleaning streets and parks; embarking on intellectual programmes; engaging with the public instead of brawling; and attempting to be a more inclusive home for young voters.

“They need to show they have good policies that can work. They need to appeal to white people, as anti-racists and not anti-white. They need to show that they have good politics.”

What the party also needs is “humility”, he said, although he suspected that Malema, as the tone-setter, will not apologise for mistakes or ever admit he is wrong.

Motloung said Malema’s headhunting of individuals for top leadership has been a mistake, as “you do not know their conviction. These people are like outsourced combatants, they are like modern mercenaries.”

He added that political parties should be careful about taking on a celebrity politician simply to boost public image, and the EFF has paid the price.

Malema’s growth plan, including the parachuting in of supposed high-profile members who could bring “value”, has not paid off nor been of any benefit, he said.

When Mkhwebane joined the EFF she categorically stated that she would never “betray the revolution”. Just a week after Shivambu’s defection, she too was finally folded into the warm embrace of Jacob Zuma, a man she defended during her tenure as Public Protector. 

Impeached for her incompetence and running out of funds due to various cost judgments and other financial disasters of her own making, she turned to the puppet master.

Who will it be?

At the forefront in the race to replace Shivambu, a few names have surfaced. Most notably that of Veronica Mente, EFF chair and MP.

Mente is a senior member and can conjure as abrasive a political persona as Malema. A former SAPS member and bodyguard to Cape Town ANC member Nomaindia Mfeketo, Mente is being touted as being in the running for DP.

She has made it known that she is up for it, an unusual move for the party, which discourages internal campaigning. She is bound to receive support from the Western Cape and Gauteng.

Former spokesperson, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, has had a rocky run in the EFF, often viewed as Malema’s “ice boy”, but he remains one of the most compelling and intellectually interesting members of leadership.

Another former party spokesperson, Vuyani Pambo, is also in the running, as is former secretary-general Godrich Gardee, who was succeeded by Marshall Dlamini. There are also calls from members for Ndlozi to replace Dlamini.

Pambo, who is head of the EFF presidency, is being supported by younger members, especially in Gauteng.

The EFF’s National People’s Assembly takes place between 12 and 15 December.

The path it chooses will determine whether it returns to the soiled womb of Zuma’s corrupted faction of the ANC, now all at home in the MK party, makes history, or fades into insignificance. DM