South African opposition party fears mass exodus as leader resigns

The deputy leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters has quit, to join former president Jacob Zuma’s party.

The deputy leader and founding member of the South African opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party has resigned to join uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a left-wing group led by former president Jacob Zuma.

Floyd Shivambu announced his decision at an emergency news conference convened by the Marxist EFF in Johannesburg on Thursday.

“The Chairperson of Ward 44 Johannesburg has informed me that my membership of the EFF has lapsed. Please be informed that I will not renew my membership of the EFF,” Shivambu declared in a letter, which he reportedly read at the briefing.

“I also request to resign my position as Member of Parliament and all positions I hold in the EFF,” he added.

The radical EFF was formed in 2013 by its current president, Julius Malema, and allies following his expulsion from the long-ruling African National Congress (ANC) for allegedly inciting division and dragging the party into disrepute.

The alliance won 9% of the vote in South Africa’s May elections, gaining 39 seats, and was defeated by the MK party, founded late last year. The Zuma-led faction received 15% of the votes (58 seats), making it the third-largest group in parliament.

Both the EFF and MK are members of the Progressive Caucus, a leftist parliamentary alliance formed after the election to oppose the multi-party Government of National Unity led by the ANC.

Shivambu, who has served as EFF’s deputy president for over a decade, has claimed that his exit does not constitute a “vote of no confidence” in the organization. He called it a “revolutionary act that will allow progressive forces to unite and work towards the agenda for progressive and revolutionary change.”

Manyi and the party’s deputy president, Floyd Shivambu, announced their departures from the EFF on Thursday. “This is a testing moment… the EFF will have to pass this test or it will have to die,” Malema told reporters on Thursday in response to his former ally’s decision.

The pan-African activist also announced that MP Mzwanele Jimmy Manyi has resigned from the party to join the eight-month-old MK.

“There will be many others who are going to leave the EFF because they’ve got their loyalty and support to the deputy president,” Malema warned.

On Thursday, the MK welcomed Shivambu and Manyi into the party, promising to deploy the two “progressive comrades” in accordance with their individual strengths and areas of expertise.