Since the departure of former EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu, the party has witnessed a mass exodus of high-profile members including Dali Mpofu, Mzwanele Manyi, and Busisiwe Mkhwebane, who have defected to Jacob Zuma's MK Party (MKP).
EFF National Council of Provinces member Nolubabalo Mcinga and EFF founding member Alfred Motsi recently left the red berets. There have been murmurs that more members could also be on their way out.
Political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast has described the exodus of senior leaders from the party as a major setback for the red berets.
“It’s a blow to the EFF in a big way. There seems to be a grand strategy, and they are dealing with [EFF leader) Julius Malema in a big way. You can see the way they are executing the plan, all of them. [ Mkhwebane, Shivambu, they have all known about this,” Breakfast said.
On Sunday, Malema described desertion of the party at this critical moment as an “assassination attempt”.
“We must register today and for the future generation to remember the deserting of the EFF at this critical moment in our liberation struggle constitutes an assassination attempt. It's important to not individualise this moment of infiltration and betrayal of the EFF but to place it within the above historical context.”
He said members who left the party were “sleeper agents and double agents who sat among us but reported elsewhere”.
“The people who have left this organisation have not only led this infiltration and betrayal, but even had the audacity to prescribe to us how we must perceive and respond to their infiltration. To defect from the organisation you founded, in favour of an organisation that recently surpassed your own organisation in elections, is opportunism,” Malema said.
The EFF will hold its elective conference in December.
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Image: Veli Nhlapo
Since the departure of former EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu, the party has witnessed a mass exodus of high-profile members including Dali Mpofu, Mzwanele Manyi, and Busisiwe Mkhwebane, who have defected to Jacob Zuma's MK Party (MKP).
EFF National Council of Provinces member Nolubabalo Mcinga and EFF founding member Alfred Motsi recently left the red berets. There have been murmurs that more members could also be on their way out.
Political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast has described the exodus of senior leaders from the party as a major setback for the red berets.
“It’s a blow to the EFF in a big way. There seems to be a grand strategy, and they are dealing with [EFF leader) Julius Malema in a big way. You can see the way they are executing the plan, all of them. [ Mkhwebane, Shivambu, they have all known about this,” Breakfast said.
On Sunday, Malema described desertion of the party at this critical moment as an “assassination attempt”.
“We must register today and for the future generation to remember the deserting of the EFF at this critical moment in our liberation struggle constitutes an assassination attempt. It's important to not individualise this moment of infiltration and betrayal of the EFF but to place it within the above historical context.”
He said members who left the party were “sleeper agents and double agents who sat among us but reported elsewhere”.
“The people who have left this organisation have not only led this infiltration and betrayal, but even had the audacity to prescribe to us how we must perceive and respond to their infiltration. To defect from the organisation you founded, in favour of an organisation that recently surpassed your own organisation in elections, is opportunism,” Malema said.
The EFF will hold its elective conference in December.
TimesLIVE
READ MORE:
‘Deserting the EFF is an assassination attempt’: Malema
‘I will never give up, try next door’: Julius Malema as he digs in heels as EFF leader
Mass exodus is a big blow for EFF, analyst says as party leaders continue to leave
‘Majority of EFF leaders knew I was leaving the party to join MKP’: Floyd Shivambu
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