In a briefing on Saturday, a small group of EFF members in Durban called for the suspension of three national leaders, raising issues over the EFF’s finances and claiming the party has acted undemocratically in the wake of the local government elections.

On Friday, a press release sent by Nhlanhla Mthembu, the party’s eThekwini ward 31 candidate, said “EFF KZN branches” would speak to the media on key issues in the party. Mthembu, who addressed the press conference with Mthandeni Zungu, the ward 26 candidate, and other local EFF members, want a national conference to be convened to suspend party deputy president Floyd Shivambu, deputy secretary general Hlengiwe Maxon and central command team (CCT) member Marshall Dlamini.

They said the EFF’s decision to support the Democratic Alliance and other opposition parties in hung municipalities was taken without consulting its structures. The party’s disbanding of leadership in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, where the EFF’s vote was lower than its national average, was also done without the necessary democratic processes. They complained of misconduct in the EFF’s ordering of its councillors to pay half their salaries to the party for three months to repay campaign costs. The EFF had awarded some eThekwini council seats on patronage rather than merit, they continued.

“Our CIC (commander-in-chief) must know, because I am told that there are many things that he is not told. They are trying to hide a lot of things from him but until when? We need answers from Floyd and he must tell us what he did with the money for fighters in KZN‚” Zungu was quoted as saying. The aggrieved KZN members questioned what happened with money allocated for campaigning in the province, saying they had to buy their own party paraphernalia, and claimed that Shivambu misused campaign funds.

Acting EFF spokesman Fana Mokoena hit back on Sunday. He said the group held a “bogus media briefing” and the members did not understand the processes and principles of the party.

“It must be stated categorically that the EFF is not a home of positionmongers and we will not tolerate and support such a culture. The CCT (central command team) makes carefully considered decisions in the interests of the organisation and members are constitutionally obliged to comply with those decisions,” said Mokoena.

Drawing parallels to previous protests by EFF members, Mokoena said the ANC was behind the complaints and the members were now effectively expelled.

“We know who is sponsoring them. Once more the ANC is bankrolling what they perceive to be a way of destroying their real opposition. The ANC must be ashamed. The EFF will not harbour enemies within its ranks. These members, by acting outside of the culture, structures, codes and processes they signed up for when they joined the EFF, have effectively expelled themselves.”

The party has spoken aggressively against members demanding paid positions in government. When Julius Malema announced who the EFF would vote for in hung councils, he spent significant time on the issue, denouncing members who prioritised their financial interests over those of the party.

The EFF won eight seats in the eThekwini council and there was contention over who was appointed as councillors. Mthembu, who addressed Saturday’s press conference, recently led a protest against the party on the issue in Umbilo. He said six councillors had been appointed due to nepotism and demanded they be removed. The issue was dividing the party in the region, said protesters.

As Mokoena noted, the EFF has previously dealt with a number of issues of divisions. Former party MPs Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalala, Andile Mngxitama, Mpho Ramakatsa, and Lucky Twala launched a campaign they said was to save the EFF from its leaders after a public fallout and allegations of financial wrongdoing. At the party’s first national elective conference, some delegates complained that leaders were elected through pre-agreed slates.

The EFF’s decision to disband leadership structures in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape could lead to further divisions, but the hardline approach against underperforming structures has been welcomed, at least in the Eastern Cape.

City Press on Sunday quoted the party’s provincial spokesperson Yoliswa Yako: “We welcome the decision because we understand why it had to be taken and whichever leadership does emerge after this, it’s going to be one that is capable of taking the responsibility of running a province and region. We are quite fine with the decision because it’s for the good of the party in the province.”

The EFF is now gearing for the 2019 provincial and national elections. A key issue, however, will be its ability to raise funds for campaigning. There have been rumours that the EFF is sponsored by controversial sources, but the decision to significantly tax councillors’ pay suggests the party is committed to avoiding allegations of corruption or “capture”, but also that it has struggled to raise the funds to be a key political player.

“You had your faces on the posters, you had T-shirts, and you had all types of support. Where do you think that money came from?” Malema asked at a press conference last week. “Our party is supported and financed by its own members.”

The idea of a self-funded political party is new in local politics. But as the EFF taxes its councillors’ wages to repay past election debts, it seems unclear how the party will raise enough funds to compete with the machinery of the ANC and DA for the next poll. And as is now evident in KwaZulu-Natal, it also seems unclear whether party members will in the long term support such sacrifices. DM

Photo: EFF leader Julius Malema makes his representation to Parliament’s powers and privileges committee in Cape Town, Tuesday, 7 October 2014. Also pictured is Floyd Shivambu (L). Malema later led his fellow MPs out of the disciplinary hearing against them after saying Parliament should instead charge Speaker Baleka Mbete for disrupting presidential question time in August. Picture: Nardus Engelbrecht/SAPA