Political analysts have shared their insights on the resignation saga of Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi and Yazini Tetyana, following the Economic Freedom Fighters' (EFF) announcement on Thursday.
Andre Duvenage told The Star on Thursday that Ndlozi's resignation from Parliament is a significant blow to the EFF, as he played a pivotal role in the party and was one of leader Julius Malema's strongest lieutenants.
“Based on my own assessment, it is highly unlikely that the EFF is going to recover in the full sense of the word. Ndlozi played a very important role. He was one of the key people in the EFF, driving the party in a certain direction, one of the strongest lieutenants for Julius Malema and without him, they are going to be a lot weaker,” said Duvenage.
He also noted that the EFF's top leadership is currently stretched thin following the recent resignations of high-profile figures, including former deputy president Floyd Shivambu, Dali Mpofu, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, and Mzwanele Manyi.
“The top elite of the EFF is very thin at the moment with the recent resignation of the likes of Floyd Shivambu, Dali Mpofu, and Busisiwe Mkhwebane is a huge blow for the party.”
However, another political analyst, Sandile Swana, disagreed with Duvenage's sentiments, stating that the new top team of the EFF are well-equipped to shield the party from attacks by Jacob Zuma and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party.
“The top team of the EFF, which is Julius Malema, Nontando Nolutshungu, Godrich Gardee, Omphile Maotwe, Marshall Dlamini, and Leigh-Ann Mathys can defend the party from Jacob Zuma and the uMkhonto weSizwe party, they are mature, experienced and can do the job,” said Swana.
He stressed that the EFF must focus on overhauling and fortifying its organizational structures at the voting district level, with a particular emphasis on creating and maintaining high-performing branches that have a proven track record of success.
“The principal political task that the EFF should do, is to continue with the organisation redesign and more specifically to build structures on a voting district, branch by branch and make sure they’ve got high-quality branches which have served them well over the years and looking at their statistics they’ve been doing well.”
Tensions within the EFF have been escalating, leading to Ndlozi's resignation. This comes after a series of events, including him being barred from attending the party's elective conference in Johannesburg last month.
The EFF released a statement on Thursday morning stating the resignation of the two party members.
“The voluntary requests to be released from deployment, which were sent to the Secretary General of the EFF consecutively and within days of each other, expressed gratitude to the EFF for the opportunity to serve the organisation and the people of South Africa.
“The EFF has accepted the respective voluntary requests to be released from deployment of the two Fighters, who have diligently served the organisation in their respective deployments since the EFF has had representation in the legislative sphere,” the statement reads.
Tetyana served in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature and later in Parliament, while Ndlozi has been a member of the National Assembly since 2014.
The Star