The EFF has been warned of plots to assassinate its secretary-general Marshall Dlamini amid coalition squabbles with the IFP in KwaZulu-Natal.
The party confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that it has received a briefing from the police cautioning that senior IFP leaders are gunning for Dlamini’s head.
EFF spokesperson Sinawo Thambo said the “reliable intelligence reports” show that IFP leaders believe Dlamini is solely responsible for the party’s decision to activate motions of no confidence against IFP mayors in several municipalities in the province.
According to Thambo, the EFF respects the IFP’s decision to not support the establishment of EFF governments in various municipalities in the province, hence it concluded to oust its government wherever they had previously voted for them.
Thambo is warning that the EFF will not turn a blind eye to the alleged plots to assassinate Dlamini, because settling political scores through violence has become a culture within the IFP, saying the red berets condemn the plots with “contempt”.
“We do not take these reports lightly because the province of KwaZulu-Natal has been defined by many political assassinations for a very long time, a habit which the EFF has never been associated with and has condemned since our formation 10 years ago,” he said.
“The EFF is strongly opposed to the use of violence and assassinations as a method to settle political differences. We as the EFF will do everything in our power and within our capacity to protect our secretary-general against agent provocateurs and agents of apartheid who only thrive through violence or threats of violence.”
The EFF further urged the police to investigate the IFP leaders who are allegedly behind the assassination plots, irrespective of their seniority.
“We call on the IFP, its leaders, and members to desist from using violence as a mechanism of settling political differences.
“South Africa is entering an age where political parties will from time to time disagree on how governments are constituted at local, provincial and national levels, and violence cannot and should not be used as a weapon for narrow and selfish political purposes.
“We encourage all EFF ground forces, regional, provincial and national leaders to never retreat nor surrender even at the point of provocation and threats.
“The fact that there are threats against our leaders is a demonstration that the EFF is a force to be reckoned with and one which will take over government through democratic, decisive, and peaceful elections unless the space for democratic engagement is foreclosed.”
Sunday World’s numerous attempts to get a comment from the IFP were unsuccessful, as the party’s national spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa’s phone rang unanswered.
This story is developing…
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