EFF officials remain coy on second term weeks before party election

EFF top officials were coy on whether they will contest for re-election when the party goes to its elective conference in December. 

EFF leader Julius Malema was the only one of the five willing to admit he would contest for a third term.

Secretary-general Mashall Dlamini said he would accept nomination at the conference should he be asked. The three other party leaders, chairperson Veronica Mente, deputy secretary-general Poppy Mailola and treasurer-general Omphile Maotwe were coy when asked if they would contest. 

Maotwe said her branch from Tshwane had failed to meet the threshold to attend the conference but the regional and provincial leaders would advise her on whether they would lobby on her behalf. 

Mente said she had served the party well but refused to respond to whether she would contest, while Mailola said she would serve the party in whatever capacity she can. 

The party's top officials took the media through a tour of the Nasrec expo centre, the venue for its conference dubbed the “national people's assembly”. 

During the media briefing shortly after the tour, Malema said everyone he expected to leave the party had left.

He criticised the media for having exaggerated the crisis in the party after several of its high ranking leaders defected to former president Jacob Zuma's MK Party. 

Shortly after former EFF chairperson Dali Mpofu left the party, Malema said “two of your favourites remain”.

“Everybody who had to leave left the EFF,” he said.

Malema also shot down questions about EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi's attendance at the elective conference.

Questions have been lingering about Ndlozi as he has not been seen at party events in recent weeks.

Malema said he would not entertain “gossip”.

“I have not said anything about the guy. I will not entertain gossip,” he said.

Concerns have been raised about whether Ndlozi will heed the call from the youth and contest the vacant deputy president post or whether he will follow former deputy president Floyd Shivambu and join Zuma’s MK Party.

Ndlozi, however, has repeatedly pledged loyalty to the EFF, instead of loyalty to the leadership.

“Asinamona, Asinanzondo, siyayidumisa iEFF! Umbutho wabantu! [We are not jealous, we do not hate, we praise the EFF, the people’s party],” Ndlozi said.

Ndlozi led the EFF in Gauteng during the May 29 elections in which the party received 12.92% of the vote in the province, a decrease from 14.67% in 2019.

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