EFF beefs up for 2019 as 'lazy' councillors face the chop

EFF members can keep their positions as public representatives - but only if they perform.

As a result of a decision taken by the EFF central command team at a meeting on Saturday, hundreds of EFF PR councillors stand to lose their positions.

They will be asked to stand down as the party strives to rid itself of "laziness" and "mediocrity" to reward community activism.

EFF MPs may also lose their seats if their constituencies performed poorly in the recent municipal elections.

EFF secretary-general and MP Godrich Gardee was given the task of assessing the performance of MPs' constituencies.

The command team will ask PR councillors in wards where the party got fewer than 100 votes to voluntarily resign in favour of candidates who did better.

Party leader Julius Malema said: "We are forcing them to become community activists.

"If we don't modernise, we are going to be like the ANC. We are going to find that we're hoarding a large group of careerists.

"In this regard, all EFF PR councillors who come from wards which have received less than 100 votes will be requested by the CCT to withdraw from councils and will be replaced by ward candidates where the EFF received the most votes.

"This principle is aimed primarily at rewarding those who worked for the organisation tirelessly - and also avoiding a situation where mediocrity is rewarded," he said.

"The principle of rewarding progress and rejecting mediocrity will henceforth underpin the EFF's list processes, including in the lead-up to the 2019 general election."

The party would submit the names of two MPs before elections, after which individual EFF members would earn seats in parliament and provincial legislatures only through their efforts for the party before, during and after campaigning, said Malema.

Fresh from getting 826 councillors and 2.4million votes in its first local government election campaign, the EFF wants to bolster its chances in the 2019 general election. It is looking at the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, the second- and third-most populous provinces, which are largely rural.

"We have weak structures in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, and most were created in a hurry," said Malema.

"We are concerned because if we don't get the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal right we can forget about growing the EFF's influence in the country."

Deputy President Floyd Shivambu, assisted by national whips and provincial leaders, will head the governance task unit monitoring and evaluating performance of EFF representatives in parliament, legislatures and councils.