The EFF will hold its first central command team meeting this weekend since its deputy president Floyd Shivambu resigned last week.
This meeting follows the party's meeting with its provincial chairs and secretaries on Monday evening.
The meeting of provincial leaders was held after its president Julius Malema's address of the Gauteng branches in Soweto.
It's understood the provincial leaders were briefed on the developments surrounding Shivambu's exit with a plan to close rank in different provinces.
Provincial leaders were said to have been summoned to Johannesburg on Monday for a meeting with secretary-general Marshall Dlamini and Malema.
This weekend party leaders are expected to finalise plans for the party's national people's assembly, where new leadership will be announced.
Provincial secretaries who spoke to TimesLIVE Premium said their branches are well on their way in their preparations for the elective conference in December.
The three-day conference is expected to commence on December 12 and is likely to be held in Gauteng.
EFF provincial secretary in the North West Papiki Babuile endorsed Dlamini and Malema to return to their positions in the party leadership.
“I have confidence in the current secretary-general of the EFF ... We are fully behind our president and we would wish that he continues leading the EFF, but the process is a process that is left with branches of the EFF to discuss. All the leaders of the EFF, we are fully behind them,” he said.
At the centre of everything, it is branches who must elect their leaders. Branches are allowed to discuss the leadership question, and provinces and regions are allowed to discuss the leadership question.
— Papiki Babuile, EFF North West provincial secretary
Babuile said the province met the threshold of 70% of branches in good standing to qualify to participate in the party's national conference.
EFF guidelines stated that branches had until August 15 to recruit qualified members to hold branch people's assemblies to elect delegates for the conference and nominate candidates for positions in the top six. Babuile said the province is now processing and verifying membership for national to approve.
“We definitely have to ensure that we elect leaders who are not only leading from their air-conditioned offices, but we also want leaders who are going to make sure they are on the ground. Leaders who make sure they are interacting with the branches and have programmes with branches. That is the requirement for ground,” he said.
There are still wards of the EFF with less than 100 members, Babuile said.
“The leaders who are going to be elected in this assembly are leaders who are rooted within the masses and who will then make sure that we have a living organisation. So that is the approach we are going to take in going to this conference. But at the centre of everything, it is branches who must elect their leaders. Branches are allowed to discuss the leadership question, and provinces and regions are allowed to discuss the leadership question.”
Discussions on the EFF's policy direction will begin next week when branches sit, Babuile added.
Free State provincial secretary Malefane Msimanga said the province had completed its recruitment process, adding that some branches were ready to launch and hold branch people's assemblies. He was confident the province would meet timelines for branches to participate in the conference.
“We want to make sure that when we launch branches, we do not launch branches that are going to die. It's branches that will sustain the battle moving forward — in the absence of guidance from regional and provincial leaders — on their own. They must be able to wage their battles at the level of wards,” he said.
The provincial command team had already deliberated on the policy discussions towards the party's elective conference, Msimanga said. The Free State will agitate for the party to adopt a clear programme for left-leaning parties in the country, he said, adding that mobilising left-leaning parties must include the working class and labour unions without exception.
Our view is that we must call for a summit to engage for a corporation of all left forces. That summit must include parties and trade unions so that we can close the space and challenge the political space.
— Malefane Msimanga, EFF Free State provincial secretary
“Our view is that we must call for a summit to engage for a corporation of all left forces. That summit must include parties and trade unions so that we can close the space and challenge the political space.”
He said the left parties must have a minimum programme to unite them, adding that the EFF must engage everyone including Cosatu in an agenda that seeks to liberate the working class.
Msimanga said the EFF in the province disagreed with the party's stance on the elections when it declared the May 29 results free and fair. He said the provincial leadership has proof the Electoral Commission of South Africa's process had been rigged in the province. This could be another topic of discussion for the Free State to advance at the party's elective conference in December.
Msimanga believes the recent by-elections have demonstrated that the EFF has a platform to unseat the ANC in the province. He said their aim is to mobilise young people in the 2026 local government election to defeat the ANC.
He said when dealing with the leadership question, the Free State will measure prospective leaders based on the current challenges faced by South Africans.
“We will look at what characters are demanded by such challenges and who among us possess those qualities to defeat those challenges we are facing. After that we will definitely get the leadership that will liberate South Africans, blacks in particular.”
He denied that any structures had pronounced on names of those who would lead the EFF after its elections.
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