In a dramatic turn of events, the EFF has barred its member of parliament and former spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi from attending its four-day elective conference scheduled to take place in Nasrec, southern Johannesburg next month.
Ndlozi has been banned from attending all red berets political activities. These include meetings of the party’s War Council, which meets weekly as well as its Central Command Team (CCT), which met on Friday.
Ndlozi is a member of both crucial structures.
The red sea leaders have also placed Ndlozi, fondly known as the People’s Bae, on leave of absence, preventing him from doing his job as a member of parliament.
Independent sources, who did not want to be named because they are not allowed to speak to the media, said the central command team delivered the devastating news to Ndlozi, which is akin to constructive dismissal, without advancing any rationale behind the shocking decision.
It is alleged that the faction that is lobbying and campaigning for the party’s former secretary-general, Godrich Gardee, orchestrated Ndlozi’s marginalisation because it feared that delegates might vote for him as the party’s deputy president.
Gardee has been touted as the possible replacement for Floyd Shivambu, who left the organisation and joined former president Jacob Zuma’s nascent party, MK Party.
Since Shivambu’s departure, Ndlozi’s political detractors have been alleging that he would also resign.
A deep throat alleged that Ndlozi’ foes piggybacked on his rumoured imminent departure to convince the party’s leadership that it was risky for the talented singer to be elected to any position because he was on the cusp of leaving.
“They said Mbuyiseni plans to leave the party to go back to school, but Floyd will convince him to join him. It was on those grounds that the leaders felt that it would be foolhardy and risky to invest in somebody who is on the brink of jumping ship. But there is no evidence to support these claims. Mbuyiseni is just being character assassinated,” said the tipster.
Another mole said it was disturbing to see Ndlozi being treated this way because he has been implementing instructions to crisscross the county, fixing EFF branches.
“What informs the attitude to treat him like a sewer rat?”
Another informant not fond of the revered academic giant, said there was a strong suspicion that Ndlozi was playing the leadership.
According to this leader, Ndlozi’s allegation that he is disinterested in running for a position to become a national official next month was a ruse to lull them so he could emerge as a surprise victor. Thus, the risk of allowing him to stay on until conference was too big, said the leader.
“This short one is silently mobilising and pretending like he is not interested, so he has been busy playing games,” said our deep throat with intimate knowledge of party developments.
Another EFF insider said the cardinal mistake that the dominant faction committed, which placed Ndlozi in a position of advantage, was to declare Gardee as their candidate for deputy president too early.
By doing this, the politician said, they had exposed their ace card while Ndlozi’s lobbyists continued working the ground with their cards very close to their chests.
“Remember with lobbying there is for and then there is against. So, the against Godrich has been growing since his name came to the fore but he has solid support.
“Godrich lacks charisma and can’t articulate EFF’s policy position with coherence and in-depth. Ndlozi is an orator, an intellectual machine and a magnet to attract young and intellectual votes”
Ndlozi’s woes were exacerbated by the recent developments of leaders such as Shivambu and Mpofu who had left the EFF in haste, said the leader.
“The real shaping of leadership comes days before conference because it is a dynamic process. And that is the game of politics, for instance, no one would have ever foreseen Floyd leaving, so you never know these things.”
EFF national spokesperson Leigh-Ann Mathys could not confirm nor deny that Ndlozi had been placed on leave of absence. She was instead interested to know where Sunday World got the information.
However, she confirmed that Ndlozi had not attended the War Council and CCT meetings this week.
“There were a lot of people who did not attend the CCT and the War Council, must I send you the list? We do not tell the news that this person was not there and what the reasons are,” she said.
Asked if Ndlozi will be attending parliament next week, she responded: “I do not know, there is probably a lot of people who will not be in parliament next week.”
About the national elective conference, she also said Ndlozi might not attend, which would not be unusual.
“He is not going to be the only one who will probably send an apology, people send apologies all the time including myself,” said Mathys.
