Red Berets look to rebuild after dismal poll performance and loss of key leaders

Rebuild, defend and advance is the order of the next three days as the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party gears up for its third National People’s Assembly where thousands of delegates will vote in leaders who will shepherd the party for the next five years.

The Red Berets headed into the elective conference somewhat battered after performing poorly in the 29 May polls — which resulted in the party’s parliamentary representation declining — and losing high-ranking leaders to the uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party.

The EFF was knocked down from third to the fourth-largest party in the National Assembly, winning only 9.52% of the national vote after taking 10.8% in 2019.

During a media briefing on Thursday, outgoing secretary-general Marshall Dlamini said the conference offered the party an opportunity to reflect on its loss of popularity.

Read more: ANC snatches back Limpopo seat from collapsing EFF in landslide win

“We are going to deal with it so that we can go and regain the lost ground. We are not happy with our performance in KZN and we went to KZN to engage with members and let them know we are not happy with the status...

“Part of what we are going to be dealing with now is to have a programme of action that will take us to victory because victory has to be delivered,” said Dlamini.

The EFF won 2.26% of the provincial KZN vote in 2024 compared to 9.71% in 2019.

The party has already started taking action to redress its poor electoral performance. Several branches from Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal will not have voting delegates present at the conference after the EFF excluded the branches because of their dismal showing in the polls. The Western Cape will have 75 voting delegates while KZN will have only 14.

Dlamini said the Central Command Team had decided that only branches that received more than 10% electoral support in the recent election would have voting delegates present at the assembly.

He added that excluding delegates from poor-performing wards was a corrective measure to send the message that persuading the electorate to vote for the EFF required hard work and engagement with the community, something those branches were not doing.

“The reason we took that decision is that we have a system where we want to reorganise ourselves... This is not a palliative exercise, it’s a corrective exercise to say as branches, going forward, there are minimum standards that we must have and part of that is that at least we must reach 10% of the electorate; we want to win all those wards,” he said.

What’s in store

While the conference is scheduled to run from 12 to 15 December, the official proceedings will only begin on Friday with EFF leader Julius Malema delivering a political report that Dlamini said would set the tone of the assembly and outline the party’s strategic priorities.

There is no indication which leaders will fill the top six positions as Dlamini said nominations from delegates would only take place on Saturday. In addition to the top six, members of the Central Command Team, the EFF's top decision-making body, will be elected.

Throughout the briefing, Dlamini referred to Malema as the outgoing commander-in-chief; however, Malema is expected to clinch a third term as the party’s leader — it is unlikely that he will be opposed when the nomination process begins.

Read more: Julius Malema and the EFF — the leader faces one of his toughest weeks

The key position is the deputy president seat, which has remained vacant since Malema’s confidant and party co-founder Floyd Shivambu resigned, sending shockwaves through the EFF and ushering in the defection of other high-profile leaders.

Floyd Shivambu in MK regalia. (Photo: Luba Lesoll / Gallo Images)

The conference will include several commissions, at which pressing issues will be discussed. The outcome of these commissions will inform the resolution that will be proclaimed at the end of the conference on Sunday.

The commissions include:

• Organisational Character and Redesign;


• Land and Agrarian Reform;


• On Gender Struggles;


• Media, Communications and the Battle of Ideas;


• Health and Social Development;


• Education;


• Pan-Africanism and Progressive Internationalism;


• The Economy;


• State Capacity;


• Justice, Peace and Security;


• Sports, Arts and Culture;


• Governance; and


• Financing the Revolution.

Dlamini said the success of the event hinged on the robust discussions that would take place during the commissions throughout the elective conference.

“We are handing the organisation back to its owners, which are its delegates. We have quality delegates here with a mandate coming from their branches and a mandate from their provinces. So we are confident that when we come out of here the EFF will be stronger and it will take its rightful position in the society and the country at large,” said Dlamini. DM