Africa-Press – South-Africa. Former EFF deputy leader Floyd Shivambu has criticised the red berets’ “disruptive” behaviour in parliament during his time in the party, saying he was not comfortable with it.
Shivambu played a significant role in the formation of the EFF. He served in the EFF for more than a decade and was an MP for the party before he defected to the MK Party last year, where he served as secretary-general before his dismissal in June.
Briefing members involved in the Mayibuye consultation process, Shivambu said he would have left the EFF even if there was no MK Party, citing his discomfort with the party’s culture in parliament.
“One of the things I was not comfortable with throughout my years in parliament was a culture of disruption and rudeness that characterised those we served with,” he said.
“All those things were just planned in a childish way, with no purpose. Sometimes, even when there are areas of agreement.”
The EFF is known for staging protests in parliament over the years, often clashing with other parties. Last year, it lost a legal appeal against the removal of party MPs from parliamentary sittings in 2015 and 2017.
Shivambu said the protests were planned by one person in the party.
“It was not something that happened spontaneously, it’s something that was planned in meetings, and I can tell you now, there was only one person who initiated those disruptions. It was not the leadership collective. That was mistaken for being the so-called militancy and radicalism.”
He attributed this behaviour to the EFF’s loss in elections last year.
“We kept asking how this relates to voters on the ground or to the people who sent us here. That’s why there are 600,000 fewer people who voted for that organisation; they realised they sent them to represent them, but they are grandstanding.
“The saddest thing you will see is that the younger generations who get to associate with that organisation, even in councils and legislatures, just go and disrupt for no reason and engage in violence. They think that is being revolutionary because the leader says that is being revolutionary. What kind of revolution is that when it’s just being disruptive, even when it’s senseless?”
He said this was one characteristic that would never define Mayibuye.
“We will engage robustly, tell the truth and claim no easy victories. We will not be disruptive for the sake of it. We won’t be disrespectful and want to disrupt at any given point, even when there’s an opportunity to provide leadership and guidance.”
Shivambu also took a swipe at the MK Party, saying, “One of the things that coincidentally define Mayibuye is that it’s not an ethnic organisation, and it will never be an ethnic or tribal organisation.”
He made reference to Mayibuye’s leadership, saying members in top positions represent all languages in South Africa.
“That is the principle we apply in all the leadership collectives that we constitute. There will never be leadership in a province that is just one grouping of people that are leading; it’ll also be reflective.”
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