On Monday evening, the country watched EFF leader Julius Malema having a meltdown at Orlando Stadium, just days after the resignation of his former deputy president, Floyd Shivambu, from the party.
Shivambu has since joined the MK Party – the third biggest political party in SA, which made shock waves at the recent general elections by getting just over 2.4-million votes, translating to 14.58% of the vote. Malema, who just days ago stated that he would continue to be brothers with Shivambu, and that his departure would not give birth to animosity between the two, did a Damascene conversion.
He called Shivambu everything from a coward to a traitor, but Shivambu was not the only target of his rage.
Without mentioning his name, he also launched a cruel attack on EFF MP and former national spokesperson, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, who was reduced to an indecisive person who has maintained silence when the EFF is supposedly under attack.
Malema effectively accused Ndlozi of being a traitor too, and went on to insinuate that Ndlozi’s stance on the resignation of Shivambu was made clear by his partner reacting positively to a post in which Shivambu praised the MK Party. To Malema, it is inconceivable that spouses can hold and express different political opinions, because he cannot reconcile with the idea that women can have political views that are both independent and contrary to their politician spouses.
Malema’s meltdown continued throughout his address. He stated that any and everything that resembled Shivambu would be dismantled in the EFF, that those who wanted to leave the EFF should do so immediately, and that the powers of the deputy president would now rest in his office.
He went on to state that branches that did not obtain more than 10% of the vote in the general election would not be represented at the upcoming national people’s assembly scheduled for December, continuing his habit of punishing EFF members for election outcomes without reflecting on the internal and external factors that resulted in those outcomes.
And right on cue, he also attacked the media, deriding particular journalists and media houses, and insinuating impropriety on their part. It was a tragic sight, because it confirmed the glaring truth about Malema that many are still struggling to accept: that while he may have done something revolutionary in co-founding the EFF, he is, in fact, the biggest danger that is facing the organisation.
The departure of Shivambu from the EFF, coming closely after the loss of electoral support, presents a significant challenge for the party. A sensible leader, recognising the anxieties that such a moment has brought for members of the party, would want to allay these anxieties.
They would rise to the occasion by providing reassurance to members that the EFF is their home and will weather the storm. A sensible leader would use this difficult moment as an opportunity for self-reflection, to ask himself difficult questions about why there is a sense of discontent within the party and why it has lost so many powerful leaders over the years.
A sensible leader would recognise that there is greater value in creating a conducive environment for the EFF and MK Party to collaborate. The two parties have almost 25% share of the vote combined, and great potential to grow this support. A sensible leader would have handled the situation in a manner that aims to build, strengthen and unite.
But Malema is not the most sensible of people, and so, when the moment came for him to define himself as someone worth respecting, he chose to engage in destructive politics masked as radicalism. He chose to opt for attacking rather than reflecting. And this is why I state without fear of contradiction that the biggest danger facing the EFF is, in fact, Malema himself.
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