EFF navigating turbulent times

EFF’s third national people’s assembly later this month will determine whether the party survives the fate that has befallen similar ANC breakaway political organisations.

For the first time since its establishment in 2013, the EFF goes to its elective conference on the back foot having lost electoral support to a newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe Party.

The resignations by some senior party members, including its deputy Floyd Shivambu and national chairperson Dali Mpofu, mean that the EFF will have to navigate a tumultuous terrain that could make or break it.

A party that was key in removing a state president in Jacob Zuma and was within a touching distance of being part of South Africa’s government now finds itself having to discuss its survival.

Julius Malema, and other senior members that still find the EFF the only vehicle through which they can effect change in the country’s political landscape, should consider learning from other ANC splinter parties.

By doing so, they may discover the answers they are looking for. One of those is that the founders of the organisation are often the ones responsible for its demise.

They may also discover that in politics, collective leadership – while challenging at times – is the backbone of a healthy environment.

In fact, oftentimes, good leaders are those who inspire others to lead and are not afraid to be contested.

That most of the members that have left the party have found a home in Zuma’s MK Party signals a leadership crisis within the EFF. The same individuals who once told the country

Zuma was not fit to lead are now singing to his tune.

The EFF’s national people’s assembly from December 12-15 in Nasrec must therefore be careful not to misdiagnose its woes and make the issue about the arrival of the MK Party. The MK Party may have finished what was already brewing.

If the EFF fails to start looking from within, this could be the last time it is even capable of organising a national elective conference.

Cape Times