The leader may not return to power when the region holds an elective conference in a month’s time.
A growing revolt within the Economic Freedom Fighters in the Gert Sibande region may cost Koos ‘Pkay’ Nkosi the party’s number one job in the region when an elective conference date is announced and fighters gather.
Three highly-placed EFF sources in the region say Nkosi is battling to maintain his grip on power after fighters openly told him they no longer want to be led by him and that another leader should be put in his stead.
Nkosi is the region’s convener and one of the two EFF PR councillors at the Gert Sibande district municipality in Ermelo.
Sources say a meeting on 21 March 2017 at a school in Tembisa, Ermelo – attended by sub-regions as well as provincial leader Collen Sedibe, organiser Cyril Chuene and deputy secretary Ntsako Mkhabela – Nkosi was booed and told to not chair the meeting.
013NEWS understands that Nkosi is accused by the sub-regions of neglecting members and flouting organisational guidelines.
Sources say since 3 August 2016’s local government elections Nkosi never came back “to the people and say ‘thank you, you’ve voted for us’.”
“What we want to know is that he is there in the council and we don’t know what issues he represents us with there.
“We believe that each and every councillor should come to the membership and community and get a mandate on the issues to fight for in the council. Now what does he fight there? Why can’t he come back to us?,” one source based in Msukaligwa told 013NEWS.
“He got the employment he wanted and now he is king and forgets us,” the source said.
Nkosi is also accused of suspending members “without reasons and reporting to the entire membership why those fighters have been suspended”.
He is also accused of manipulating the PR list “to put the people he wants” in councils.
013NEWS also understands that there has been secret meetings by unhappy fighters across the region discussing ways to topple Nkosi.
Nkosi has been a leader of the region at least when the EFF was founded in late 2013.
He first served as organiser before becoming the convener.
The term ‘convener’ refers to a chairperson of a temporary structure and Gert Sibande is set to have its first elective conference before July 2017, called Regional People’s Assembly.
SEE ALSO: EFF prepares for regional elective conferences
They are currently concentrating on forming or renewing branches.
Another source who attended the 21 March meeting in Tembisa said fighters – one by one – stood up and expressed their disappointments at how Nkosi runs the region in front of Sedibe and called for his head to roll instantly.
“He tried to chair the meeting and the whole hall told him to sit down. Majority of fighters they didn’t even want him to sit with the leadership in the front.
“When commissar Sedibe tried to calm us down we started singing and told him to choose between Pkay or the movement,” the source said.
Another faction wants Nkosi to be removed as convener ahead of the elective conference fearing that he might rig or delay the conference sitting and end up failing as a region to have a conference and that a female fighter be put in his stead.
But another faction believes this will perpetuate disunity and internal strifes – that Nkosi be afforded the space to deliver the conference together with Secunda’s Thabiso Mofokeng who is regional co-ordinator.
The term ‘co-ordinator’ refers to a secretary of a temporary structure.
013NEWS reliably learnt that one of the strongest of the factions wants Chief Albert Luthuli’s Walter Zulu to emerge as the region’s secretary and Govan Mbeki’s Gcina Mofokeng as the chairman.
Attempts to draw comments from both Zulu and Mofokeng went fruitless.
Nkosi didn’t reply to questions sent on Facebook messenger.
Sedibe confirmed they had such a meeting but dispelled suggestions it was about roasting Nkosi, saying what happened there was “politicking, it was a political meeting”.
“It was a political meeting about cleaning campaigns and building the organisation, nothing else,” Sedibe said.
(edited by ZK)
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