Malema Publicly Humiliates Mbuyiseni Ndlozi Over Declining EFF Votes And Refusal To Stand By Him

Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema has indicated that he will not continue responding to former party MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, referring to his critics as “the boys” in a social media post amid their public dispute over voting and the EFF’s election performance.

The latest exchange followed Ndlozi’s decision not to vote in the November 4 local government elections. He said his abstention was deliberate and defended it as a constitutional choice. His explanation was that political parties should earn voters’ support and that people should not be compelled to vote when they are dissatisfied with the choices available.

Malema criticised the decision at a media briefing on Saturday, November 7, calling it abnormal and counter-revolutionary. He questioned how Ndlozi, who works with the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, could choose not to vote given the sacrifices made by those who fought for democracy. Malema also urged South Africans to vote, even if they did not support the EFF.

Ndlozi responded on X by shifting attention to the EFF’s electoral performance. He questioned the party’s leadership over its loss of support, noting that the EFF received 6.22% of the vote in 2026, compared with 10.31% in the 2021 local government elections. The difference is 4.09 percentage points, a fall of close to 40% of the party’s previous share.

In his post, Ndlozi argued that voters are not automatically owed by any political party and that abstaining can communicate dissatisfaction. He also said that political support can change when parties fail to deliver results or improve people’s lives.

Malema later said he had expressed his views and would not engage further, particularly with “the boys”, a remark widely interpreted as directed at Ndlozi. His response appeared to signal an end to his public participation in the exchange, though the underlying disagreement remains unresolved.

The dispute reflects a wider debate about whether abstention should be treated as a legitimate political choice or as a rejection of the democratic process. Ndlozi presents non-voting as an exercise of individual conscience, while Malema argues that voting remains important regardless of dissatisfaction with political parties.

Ndlozi left Parliament in 2024 and has since been associated with the Thabo Mbeki Foundation. His relationship with the EFF leadership has become increasingly strained, with the latest disagreement placing the party’s electoral decline alongside questions about voter participation.

The public exchange has intensified scrutiny of the EFF after its reduced vote share. It has also highlighted the personal nature of the fallout between Malema and Ndlozi, whose disagreement now spans both the meaning of abstention and the party’s leadership accountability.

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