EFF reconfigures leadership in KZN ahead of local elections
As part of strengthening the party ahead of next year’s local government election, the EFF has reconfigured its leadership in KwaZulu-Natal.
In a statement issued by the party’s Central Command Team after its meeting in Bela Bela in Limpopo, the party announced it had removed provincial secretary Nkululeko Ngubane and Treasurer Waken Chuma. The two were replaced by Vukani Ndlovu and Ncedo Njenga as secretary and treasurer respectively.
The party said the changes reflect a deliberate effort to improve administrative capacity in one of the most politically complex provinces in the country.
“The changes are aimed at strengthening the revolutionary engine of the organisation in KwaZulu-Natal and laying a firm foundation for the battles ahead,” read the statement.
The party also effected changes in the Western and Northern Cape provinces.
Ndlovu, a former ANC youth leader in the province is making a comeback after he was elected provincial chairperson in 2015. He was a member of the provincial legislature until 2019, however, in 2018 he lost his chairperson position to Vusi Khoza. He did not return to the legislature until last year when the party appointed him as a PR councillor in eThekwini.
Ngubane and Chuma were elected in 2022 alongside party chairperson Mongezi Thwala and other senior leaders.
Party sources said the changes were necessitated by a string of by-election losses which sources described as the worst performance in the party’s 12-year history in the province.
Although the EFF did fairly well in 2021, getting representation in almost all municipalities, it failed to win a single ward in KwaZulu-Natal. Since 2021 the party has not managed to win a single by-election and instead has been performing dismally.
The party’s provincial communications officer Chris Msibi confirmed that the national leadership has expressed its concerns over the party’s poor performance in the by-elections since 2021, but refused to be drawn into discussion of reconfiguration, saying whatever action the party would take against the provincial leadership, would be an internal matter.
willem.phungula@inl.co.za