On Monday, the SABC broadcast a television interview in which Mbuyiseni Ndlozi finally confirmed he had formally resigned from the EFF.
This was after a long period of speculation following his absence from the party’s conference in December 2024. Ndlozi has now also confirmed that this was because he had been suspended on suspicion that he was preparing to leave the EFF and move to the uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party.
Read more: Julius Malema secures third term as EFF president amid uncertainty surrounding Mbuyiseni Ndlozi’s future
He has now denied plans that he may want to follow other EFF members such as Floyd Shivambu and move to former president Jacob Zuma’s outfit.
It is a strange end to the political journey of a man once the third-most prominent party leader who appeared to be on the verge of being asked to help the ANC stay in power.
When the EFF was first formed, Malema, Shivambu and Ndlozi appeared to be its nucleus.
Malema and Shivambu were well known to the public through their time in the ANC Youth League and were both part of a leadership expelled from the ANC.
While Ndlozi had been a member of the youth league, he was not associated with the leadership during this time. As a result, his involvement appeared to be proof that the EFF was not just a revenge project for Shivambu and Malema.
A gifted orator
Ndlozi also had important political gifts and was, and no doubt still is, a skilled communicator. As long ago as 2002, while still at school, he won a Young Communicators Award.
He translated this into an ability to give coherent and credible responses to any question from any interviewer and could turn a story around.
In a political culture where political messages are often expressed through song, he also had important gifts at rallies and gatherings.
In the years leading up to the defenestration of Jacob Zuma as president, the EFF was on the march and gave the impression it would be a contender for national power.
Such was the attention on the EFF and Ndlozi that in 2017, when he received a PhD in philosophy from Wits University, it made national news.
He had become a symbol of a new form of educated, credible and intelligent politics.
His mistake, if he made one, was perhaps to receive too much attention. Malema has made it clear that he will not allow anyone else to lead the EFF.
Read more: Mbuyiseni Ndlozi resigns from Economic Freedom Fighters, shifts focus to academia and civil society
At the same time, the shock defection of Shivambu to MK might well have led to rising levels of distrust in the EFF.
When someone as senior as the deputy leader of a party can leave with virtually no warning, it might well have led to paranoia in the party.
Driving this dynamic of course is Malema’s real problem – that the EFF lost so much support during this election and that much of it went to MK.
This raises the obvious question of what will happen next.
ANC aspirations?
For the moment, Ndlozi appears to have ruled out following Shivambu and others to MK. Certainly, for someone who has often appeared to be truly progressive (rather than the “progressive” of the “progressive caucus”), it might be hard to swallow MK’s demand to govern with no constitution.
Also, he may well be aware there is no difference between the EFF, where Malema insists that only he can be the leader, and MK, where Zuma insists on the final say in every decision.
A recent tweet (on Elon Musk’s X) suggests Ndlozi has some admiration for President Cyril Ramaphosa.
A week ago, Ndlozi said about Ramaphosa: “This man is not what we have been told he is. He is truly up to something. Of all SA heads of state, he has come out as the most committed to politics that matter for the most genuine transformation of the living conditions of our people: NHI, Bela, Expropriation Act, Palestine. The left needs to accept this and rethink its position towards him. Notwithstanding Marikana, Phala Phala, CR is on a journey less travelled by many in his position. Worse under GNU conditions! No puppet of white monopoly capitalism speaks and acts like he does! Sela!”
Three weeks ago, during a press conference at Luthuli House, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula described Ndlozi as a “good politician”, and that he would not be surprised if some in the ANC were talking to him.
If Ndlozi were to move to the ANC, this would be significant in itself.
While several people have left the EFF in recent times, many of those have gone to MK (such as Shivambu, Mzwanele Manyi and Busisiwe Mkhwebane) or simply left politics.
He might be the first person of national significance to leave the EFF and go to the ANC.
This might then open some doors for other people in the EFF who also want to leave, but do not want to work with (or more accurately, for) Zuma.
Disturbing trend
Ndlozi has said he is stepping away from party politics “because where I want to go and contribute, I can’t hold a single party membership”.
But if he does join another party, it may also confirm what is becoming a pattern in our politics that does not bode well for the future.
It would show that there may be a growing trend, or even a political culture, in which people who feel their parties are losing support simply go to another party.
This would show that they lack principle and are in politics merely for their own interests. Nothing good will come from this.
If this culture takes hold on a bigger scale, it might make it much harder to manage all political parties in the future. Leaders would be justified in believing other leaders are simply preparing to leave their parties.
This will lead to more distrust with all sorts of bad consequences.
It would be harder to build parties and to sustainably grow their share of support.
Voters who see this happen would be rational to assume that they cannot trust any politician. This would further reduce the number of people who vote and reduce the legitimacy of our elections.
Ndlozi’s resignation from the EFF was a long time coming. It is a further sign that the EFF will not grow until Malema allows a democratic culture, where people can contest for leadership against him.
And Ndlozi’s future decisions could indicate the consolidation of a disturbing new trend in our politics. DM