One of them has been served with a letter, demanding he explains why he should continue representing the EFF in the Mpumalanga Legislature.
A fight for power between Mpumalanga EFF leader Collen Sedibe and secretary Alfred Skhosana is dividing the EFF, this paper has been told.
But the upper structure is doing all it can to put the division “on the periphery,” a central command team member has told 013NEWS.
Thilivhali Mulaudzi, who is deployed to the Nkangala region, said the EFF doesn’t have time for divisions as they have a “bigger mandate” to fight for poor people.
“When I came here,” Malaudzi explained in an interview when he met the 013NEWS reporter in Klipfontein, eMalahleni, “I didn’t see divisions but I’ve seen people who are demoralised.
“And when I asked them why are you so demoralised they said to me there are groups the whole province of people supporting the chair (Sedibe) and others the secretary (Skhosana),” Mulaudzi said.
The EFF in Mpumalanga is preparing for an elective conference – called a Provincial People’s Assembly – and this will reportedly happen in three months’ time.
A week ago the party suspended Skhosana, a decision he claimed occurred because party national leader Julius Malema and secretary Godrich Gardee want to manage the contestations ahead of the elective conference.
“I’m psychologically prepared to part ways,” Skhosana said a week ago.
“When people are fighting and they are left with three months towards the conference, what’s the use of suspending one of them? Obviously you are trying to manage the contestation in the province and you manage it very ugly,” the secretary said.
Mulaudzi said he had been able to tell sub-regional leaders and councillors in Nkangala to cool down as he was there as a “unifier”.
“EFF doesn’t have time for divisions,” he said.
“We have a bigger mandate, for which the people poor need us.
“We are fighting for land. Fighting for nationalisation of mines. On 27 February 2018, which is the date on which Robert Sobukwe died, the EFF made a historic victory and where even the ANC confirmed that it was the first time in their lives they listened to the opposition,” he said.
The EFF brought a motion in Parliament to amend section 25 of the Constitution and allow the state to return land without compensation.
It received a majority of votes from the other political parties and has now been referred to the Constitutional Review Committee to look at its feasibility.
It will report back to Parliament on 30 August 2018.
(edited by MLM)
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