Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has dismissed any ties with Floyd Shivambu, asserting that the EFF remains focused on their parliamentary work and will not be derailed by former allies.
Speaking to journalists outside the Pretoria home of the late actor Presley Chweneyagae, whom he visited to pay his respects, Malema made it clear that he no longer works with Shivambu and will not engage in his affairs.
“I don’t work with Floyd anywhere, Parliament, or soccer match, or anything. I don’t work with Floyd,” Malema said.
“Angifuni ukuyingena into kaFloyd, Uphi apha?( I don’t want to get involved in Floyd’s issues. Where is he here?) I’m not getting involved. Aya kwini yena (where was he going ), he’s not our problem. We are in Parliament and we are working in Parliament and that’s it. If he comes to Parliament, he will find us rolling.”
Malema’s comments come after Shivambu was removed as the MK Party’s secretary-general and redeployed to Parliament, as announced by the MK Party on Tuesday during a media briefing.
The move follows deepening factional tensions within the party.
previously reported that Shivambu’s removal came after an unsanctioned trip to Malawi to visit self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri, an act that reportedly contravened MK Party’s Constitution.
Former president Jacob Zuma and the MK Party’s National Officials convened on Monday to deliberate over the party’s internal issues and Shivambu’s conduct.
According to the MK Party, his trip violated Section 3(j) of the party’s Constitution, which prohibits international engagements not aligned with MK’s agenda. In a statement, the party noted:
“It was reaffirmed that the trip was not an officially sanctioned programme of the organisation or the President, which therefore goes against the constitution of the party. The President and the National Officials were left with no other option but to act swiftly in addressing this matter.”
Meanwhile, Malema highlighted that the EFF remains focused and unthreatened in Parliament.
“The Parliament is now run by young boys. Young people are running that thing, and if he comes and thinks he can impose himself on them, they are already ready for him. So you can be rest assured he will not do anything that can undermine the superior logic of the EFF in that Parliament,” Malema said.
He also responded to claims that Shivambu would play a big role in parliamentary committees for the MK Party.
“So if you are saying this person is going to be in his Holy Spirit and be in every committee, then the MK presence in the committees is practically impossible. He cannot match the kind of leadership we are and have deployed in that Parliament,” Malema said.
“We don’t get threatened in that Parliament. We do our work, not because we want to outshine anyone, but because we genuinely believe in our work, and we put a lot of effort into researching what we are going to speak about. That, as a result, has helped to enlighten a lot of people in South Africa, that, ‘Oh, things work in that way’—because of the work of the EFF.”
“Nothing has changed. The EFF is in Parliament. The EFF will continue to play a meaningful role in Parliament.”
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