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The ANC in Mpumalanga welcomed about 1 000 defectors from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) at a ceremony held at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit yesterday afternoon.
The minor coup comes a few days after EFF’s legislature member, Ayanda Tshabalala, resigned from the party and relinquished her position after citing a plethora of allegations against national and provincial leadership, which include financial irregularities, corruption, autocracy and sexual harassment of female members.
Tshabalala was one of the defectors. Other prominent EFF members who joined the ANC included Mpumelelo Masina, who served for a short while as party spokesperson before the 2014 elections, and Predacious Mbalati, a provincial command team member.
Before Tshabalala’s resignation and yesterday’s defections, there was already a groundswell of disenchantment with provincial chairperson Collen Sedibe’s “autocratic” leadership style, and complaints about the laying off of staff in the party’s offices.
The welcoming ceremony took place as EFF leader Julius Malema was speaking at a rally in Masoyi, near Hazyview.
Welcoming the defectors, ANC national executive committee member and Telecommunications Minister Siyabonga Cwele said: “You did well by leaving the party of dictators. They don’t know anything other than to talk about Nkandla and make noise in Parliament.”
Cwele was flanked by State Security Minister David Mahlobo, Mpumalanga secretary Lucky Ndinisa and the party’s regional leaders.
Tshabalala criticised the EFF’s leadership again when she spoke on behalf of the defectors. She denied they joined the ANC because they were promised positions in the party. “I will go back to all public members I misled to vote EFF and apologise. There’s no internal democracy in the EFF … we don’t discuss things, but we’re given instructions by the national leadership,” Tshabalala said.
“They’re corrupt and enriching themselves. EFF is not a political party, but Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu’s stokvel. People are going to talk and say we were promised positions in the ANC, but we didn’t come for that,” she said.
Tshabalala said she believed the ANC was the right party to push the economic freedom agenda because this agenda was initiated by the ANC Youth League
