He had moved from one faction to another, making a botched decision in the 11th hour during a September 2018 conference.
Mpumalanga senior fighter Cyril Chuene has been put last in the EFF Mpumalanga legislature list released this week.
Chuene is battling at number 29, despite being a former provincial organiser of the party in the province and a close friend of chairman Collen Sedibe.
Last year when party leader Julius Malema sacked provincial secretary Alfred Skhosana for ‘underperformance’, creating a vacancy in the legislature, Chuene had hoped that the party would choose him as Skhosana’s replacement but instead current deputy chairman Sam Zandamela was sworn in.
The troubles in Chuene’s political life began a year ago when he wanted to contest a position in the top 5 during a Provincial People’s Assembly held on 1 September 2018 at the Ingwenyama Resort, Mbombela.
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First, Chuene wanted to be the chair but when he realised Sedibe was having more supporters he switched and wanted to be the secretary.
In that way, the EFF in Mpumalanga was going to have a chairperson and secretary coming from the same region (eHlanzeni). But delegates dumped Chuene and chose Gert Sibande region’s Gcina Mofokeng as secretary, Sedibe as chair, Nkangala’s Zandamela as deputy chair and Bohlabela’s Ntsako Mkhabela as deputy secretary.
During the conference, Chuene – who is also an EFF councillor in the eHlanzeni district municipality – didn’t even make it as additional member of the provincial command team (PCT).
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The IEC list has Sedibe at number one and Mkhabela at number two.
Zandamela is at three, Getrude Nyembe (4) and Mofokeng (5).
Sedibe was in the same place in the 2014 IEC list – with Ayanda Tshabalala, who defected to the ANC in May 2015, at number two, and Veli Manzini who also left the EFF with Tshabalala at number three.
Nomaswazi Nkambule was at number four on that list and erstwhile treasurer Sabelo Nkambule at five.
The 2014 list didn’t have Chuene as he was still an ANC member when it was being compiled. Mkhabela in that list was at number 10.
Nationally, it is projected that the EFF will double its 6% it got in the 2014 general elections.
They currently have two seats in the Mpumalanga legislature.
(edited by ZK)
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