The leader of the newly formed political party, the Afrika Mayibuye Movement, Floyd Shivambu, claims his organisation has reached a stage in four months that the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) should have achieved in eight or nine years.

Shivambu made the remarks during a media briefing in Midrand on Wednesday afternoon. 

He was responding to a question about how many members the party has recruited since its launch in September.

A former deputy president of the EFF, Shivambu, joined the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party in August 2024 after leaving the EFF, which he co-founded in 2013. 

He has since accused the EFF leadership of being “delusional.”

“The other one, the EFF, which we founded, is led by delusional people,” he said.

According to him, South Africa currently has no true liberation movement.

“We exist to fill the vacuum of a liberation movement in South Africa – to provide clear and revolutionary liberation politics that prioritise the interests and aspirations of the people on the ground. That is what we are all about, and we are unapologetic about that.”

Responding to critics who claim his new party will fade away, Shivambu said the Afrika Mayibuye Movement is “here to stay.”

“I see people saying on social media that this organisation is going to die. My opinion is that it’s not going to die. It’s here to stay and will bring about total freedom and emancipation in South Africa. That is one thing that is for sure,” he said.

Shivambu claimed the party’s growth was at the stage where the red berets should have achieved in eight or nine years.

“We know that the stage that Afrika Mayibuye Movement is at in four months is where the EFF was supposed to be in year eight or year nine,” he said.

In 2022, when the EFF was nine years old, it reported over one million paid-up members. This was during the period when Shivambu was still the deputy president of the party.

Shivambu’s time in the MK Party was brief. He was expelled in June 2025, following internal dissent. 

Many MK members opposed his inclusion, and he was removed as secretary-general after attending a church service in Malawi led by fugitive preacher Shepherd Bushiri.

Although former president Jacob Zuma initially said Shivambu would be redeployed to Parliament, that plan never materialised. His name was later excluded from the MK parliamentary list.

Shivambu did not disclose the exact number of the Afrika Mayibuye Movement members but claimed the party is “present everywhere” and led by “respectable people.”

“And not that there’s anything wrong with unemployed youth – they must be integrated, given skills, and leadership roles. But that side, the constituency was just that component wrong,” he said.

He said that the party’s leadership reflects generational and skills balance.

“Check the generational balance of our national leadership, our provincial leaders, and the experience and professionalism among our members. That applies across all regions and sub-regions in South Africa,” he said.

Shivambu said the only areas where the party faced difficulties establishing sub-regions were in four parts of KwaZulu-Natal.

“But in all other regions, including the ten zones of eThekwini, we’ve got leadership structures. We are not a fly-by-night organisation – we are grounded. People are joining us from different political parties,” he said.

He added that some members are current councillors, mayors and deputy mayors who have joined the movement.

“It’s not propaganda; it’s the reality that we are already giving guidance on governance in some municipalities,” Shivambu said.

He said the party’s main challenge is managing the abundance of leadership talent.

“If there is any difficulty we are confronted with, it’s the process of choosing leadership, because there is a lot of potential,” he said.

Shivambu concluded that the Afrika Mayibuye Movement represents the only genuine liberation movement in South Africa.

“We are the only liberation movement that cares about the aspirations of our people. We can give scientific proof that the ANC, MK and EFF do not represent the people of South Africa,” he said.

“Our focus now is on building structures on the ground and recruiting members in that direction.”

simon.majadibodu@iol.co.za

IOL News

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