EFF deputy president Godrich Gardee heads to a Lutheran church in Mbombela on Wednesday morning, carrying what he describes as an eviction notice for the ANC.
But the political congregation he hopes to convert is considerably larger than the one expected at his polling station.
Gardee, the EFF’s mayoral candidate for the City of Mbombela, is scheduled to cast his ballot at 9am at the Lutheran Church in West Acres, along Percy Fitzpatrick Drive.
The venue offers an intriguing setting for a politician whose party promises economic salvation to communities it believes have suffered under ANC rule.
Gardee is not going there to preach. He is going to vote.
And his message to the governing party is anything but charitable.
“Voting EFF is the ultimate weapon for economic freedom. On 4 November, we are not just filling a ballot; we are casting an eviction notice against service delivery failure of the ANC for the past 30 years,” Gardee told Sunday World.
The former EFF secretary-general faces an electoral challenge that cannot be overcome by fiery speeches alone.
A daunting electoral mountain to climb
Five years ago, the ANC comfortably defeated the EFF in Mbombela, securing 59 of the municipality’s 90 council seats.
The EFF emerged as the second-largest party with 14 seats, narrowly ahead of the DA, which secured 12.
On the proportional representation ballot, the ANC received 65.92% of valid votes, compared with the EFF’s 14.76%.
The figures illustrate the mountain Gardee must climb if his party is to wrest control of the Mpumalanga capital from the ANC.
From opposition benches to mayoral ambitions
Gardee’s candidacy forms part of a broader EFF strategy to move beyond its familiar role of opposition politics and establish itself as a governing party.
At the party’s 13th anniversary celebration in Thohoyandou in July, EFF president Julius Malema introduced Gardee among several senior leaders selected to contest mayoral positions.
The occasion marked a strategic shift towards municipal governance, with the party placing considerable emphasis on service delivery.
READ MORE: Maturing EFF eyes municipal breakthrough
Personal tragedy, political mission
For Gardee, the campaign is also personal.
He has longstanding political ties to Mpumalanga, where the murder of his daughter Hillary Gardee in 2022 brought unimaginable grief to his family.
Hillary’s body was discovered outside Mbombela, triggering a criminal investigation that attracted national attention.
The case remains a painful chapter in the family’s history, with subsequent court proceedings and disputes surrounding the investigation.
READ MORE: Madlanga commission confirms Hillary Gardee murder case ‘to be assessed’ over interference claims
Now Gardee seeks political authority in the municipality that has witnessed both his public career and private tragedy.
The numbers behind the political battle
The EFF enters Wednesday’s contest with an established presence in Mbombela, but without a record of winning ward seats there in 2021.
The ANC won 41 of the municipality’s 45 wards, while the DA secured the remaining four.
The EFF’s 14 councillors entered through proportional representation.
That distinction matters.
It means Gardee’s party must demonstrate that its support can extend beyond proportional representation ballots and translate into victories in individual communities.
Targeting voters across community divides
The municipality encompasses the provincial capital and surrounding townships, rural settlements and agricultural communities.
Their needs are not identical.
Residents in established suburbs confront infrastructure maintenance and municipal reliability, while poorer communities face challenges involving access to services, employment and economic opportunities.
Gardee argues that the EFF can govern across those divides.
“We are ready to build people-centred municipalities that deliver land, jobs, dignity, and clean government to the citizens of the rural villages, townships and suburbs without discrimination and corruption,” he said.
His criticism of the ANC is particularly uncompromising.
He describes the election as a struggle against what he regards as the governing party’s betrayal of its liberation mandate.
For the EFF, replacing the ANC would represent more than an ordinary change of administration.
It would be a symbolic victory over the organisation from which many of the party’s founding leaders emerged.
Coalitions could decide the mayor’s office
But the electoral arithmetic remains stubborn.
Even a substantial improvement on the EFF’s 2021 performance would not automatically secure Gardee the mayoral chain.
Mbombela residents elect councillors, who subsequently elect the mayor.
Should no party obtain an outright majority, coalition negotiations could determine the municipality’s political leadership.
That raises another question: whether Gardee would be prepared to negotiate with political opponents he has spent the campaign condemning.
Voters hold the final verdict
For now, his immediate destination is the Lutheran Church in West Acres.
The church doors may be open to everyone, but the ballot box will reveal how many voters are willing to embrace Gardee’s political message.
And when Gardee leaves the polling station, his eviction notice will have been delivered.
Whether the ANC is actually forced to vacate municipal office will depend on the voters, not the preacher.
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- EFF deputy president Godrich Gardee is the EFF's mayoral candidate for Mbombela and plans to vote at a Lutheran church in West Acres on Wednesday morning.
- In the 2016 Mbombela municipal elections, the ANC won 59 seats and 65.92% of the proportional representation vote, while the EFF secured 14 seats and 14.76%.
- Gardee aims to shift the EFF from opposition to governance, emphasizing service delivery and targeting voters across diverse communities in Mbombela.
- The EFF won no ward seats in 2021, with the ANC winning 41 of 45 wards and the DA winning 4; EFF councillors entered via proportional representation.
- Even if the EFF improves its vote, coalition negotiations could decide Mbombela's mayor due to the council-elected mayor system.
