EFF leaders purged for MK collusion

The party has removed two senior leaders in the province after allegations of ghost branches, sabotage and defiance of Malema's directives

- Mandisa Nyathi

Tensions are rising in the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in KwaZulu-Natal as the party grapples with internal dissent, allegations of sabotage and growing fears of infiltration by the rival uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.

This comes after Nkululeko Ngubane and Waken Chuma were replaced by Vukani Ndlovu and Ncedo Njenga, respectively, after the party's central command team (CCT) meeting at the third national people's assembly, held in Bela-Bela, Limpopo, last week.

At the meeting, it was argued that the decision was aimed at strengthening the party in the province following its dismal performance at the elections in May last year and in the run-up to next year's local government elections.

The EFF's support in the province dropped to just above 2% in last year's general elections from nearly 10% in 2019, subsequent to the emergence of the MK party.

The leadership reshuffle, conducted in line with the EFF's constitution, is part of what the party describes as its continued commitment to building a "revolutionary, disciplined and ideologically coherent" leadership collective, which is capable of deepening grassroots mobilisation and steering the party's economic emancipation agenda.

The dismissals, sanctioned by the CCT, come amid claims by command team members that the two leaders defied a directive from party leader Julius Malema by engaging with MK members and manipulating branch data to give a false impression of growth in the province.

"The fact of the matter is that the party's presence in the province has diminished since the elections.