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Changes afoot for Red Berets as Malema warns against factionalism

Changes afoot for Red Berets as Malema warns against factionalism
EFF secretary-general Marshall Dlamini at the party’s Third National People’s Assembly at Nasrec in Johannesburg. (Photo: sourced / @EFFSouthAfrica / X)
Lerato Mutsila
By Lerato Mutsila
16 Dec 2024
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Learning from challenges faced by long-established parties like the African National Congress, newly re-elected Economic Freedom Fighters president Julius Malema warned party members against factionalism and internal divisions.

After three days of assessing progress, deliberating on challenges and tallying successes, the Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF’s) Third National People’s Assembly has come to a close, with some familiar leaders re-elected and the adoption of resolutions that will shape the party’s policy for the next five years.

Closing the conference, which saw the election of the EFF’s top six leaders and the central command team, party president Julius Malema, who was re-elected unopposed for a third term, cautioned party members against sowing seeds of factionalism and division, which could threaten the party from within.

eff malema Newly re-elected EFF president Julius Malema, addresses delegates at the party’s Third National People’s Assembly at Nasrec, Johannesburg. (Photo: Sourced / @EFFSouthAfrica / X)



“We cannot allow our organisation to be divided. Some comrades are working day and night to create divisions within the EFF. Let’s go and show them that the EFF will not decline. The EFF will rise higher and higher. The EFF is unstoppable because victory is certain,” Malema said.

Though Malema did not mention under-fire EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi by name, his words come as the party has seemingly rallied against Ndlozi in the aftermath of former EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu, Dali Mpofu, Busisiwe Mkhwebane and other high-profile leaders defecting to the uMkhonto Wesizwe party.

Last month, the Mail and Guardian reported that Ndlozi, the EFF’s head of political education, had been banned from attending all party activities, including meetings. While Malema dismissed Ndlozi’s supposed banning as “shebeen gossip”, the high-ranking leader was a noticeable no-show at the elective conference, further fuelling the notion that he is being sidelined.

“Our leaders need to mature quickly because factionalism destroyed the African National Congress (ANC), and it will destroy the EFF if we allow it. Leaders must learn to consult each other – no single leader has all the wisdom. I hope we can take this lesson, rebuild the organisation and avoid falling into the trap of factionalism,” said Malema on Sunday.

Read more: Julius Malema secures third term as EFF president amid uncertainty surrounding Mbuyiseni Ndlozi’s future

Resolutions – structural changes afoot


After the EFF underwent a decline in its share of votes in the national and provincial elections on 29 May 2024, the party resolved to move its leadership closer to the people by doing away with regional structures in favour of sub-regional structures.

The EFF hopes this will make leaders more accessible to local communities. However, Malema noted that this change would not be immediate, but would take place over time. Malema said the regional structure would remain in place until the newly elected top six and central command team met and developed guidelines for introducing the sub-regional structures.

In the name of inclusivity, the conference also resolved to convert student command structures into youth command structures. According to Malema, this would allow young people who aren’t necessarily in institutions of higher learning to actively participate in the party’s structures and address issues affecting youth outside the gates of educational institutions.

However, the adoption of the resolution to dissolve the student command did not come without contestation. Speaking to SABC News, EFF delegate and product of the student command Mafia Fane, who sat on the commission on organisational redesign, suggested that the party should not dissolve the student command entirely, but rather have two structures that worked together.

“There is a youth that is not represented in communities and that is not organised. One of the mandates of the EFF student command as per section 32 of the constitution is for the student command to rally, organise, and mobilise students behind the struggle of the EFF. The youth command is going to be able to rally the general youth in society behind the EFF and organise the youth vote. So we have that part that is missing because there is a youth that is not at school and not at work. My view is that the EFF student command doesn’t have to be decommissioned,” Fane said.

The EFF seeks to increase the membership threshold of its branches from 100 to 200 members. This will be done to enhance the party’s grassroots mobilisation and political impact within communities.

Read more: As EFF faces ‘genuine threat’, Malema reminds conference delegates what the embattled party stands for

eff marshall dlamini EFF secretary-general Marshall Dlamini at the party’s Third National People’s Assembly at Nasrec in Johannesburg. (Photo: sourced / @EFFSouthAfrica / X)



Speaking on other party national assembly resolutions, which will guide the party’s policies until 2029, newly re-elected secretary-general Marshall Dlamini said the Red Berets resolved to intensify the fight against all forms of oppression and ensure the representation of women and marginalised groups in all sectors of society.

The conference also resolved to intensify the demand for a comprehensive strategy to fight gender-based violence, particularly in rural areas.

“The EFF is committed to building a society that prioritises justice, equity [and] dignity for all. The Assembly also notes the catastrophic impact of the neoliberal policies on South Africa’s economy. The privatisation of public services currently under way, the persistent unemployment particularly among the youth, and the erosion of the state as an instrument of development demand a decisive shift towards socialism and state-led development.”

Dlamini reaffirmed the call for the abolition of tenders and the establishment of state-owned enterprises to drive state-led industrialisation that would rebuild state capacity and create millions of jobs.

Referring to the threat that the fourth industrial revolution posed to the working class, Dlamini said the EFF would champion policies that prioritised the needs of workers and the poor in the face of automation and artificial intelligence. DM

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