Malema ‘did not force’ women into top five
Party’s central command team made decision to replace two men who were elected, spokesperson says
That is done before the elections, [not] to come as an afterthought to say ‘sorry you have not been elected’
The EFF has rejected suggestions that its leader Julius Malema imposed changes on the party’s Eastern Cape top five to include women.
The party’s central command team made surprise amendments, replacing deputy chair Mlamli Makhetha with Nokuthla Mlokoti and Zolile Mqwayiza with Zikhona Njoli just days after they were elected at the provincial conference in East London.
Both Njoli and Mlokoti had contested for and lost these positions but were appointed after a fuming Malema berated conference delegates last week for failing to elect women in the top five.
EFF spokesperson Leigh-ann Mathys said the party’s central command team had made the decision, not Malema.
But she said she would not mind even if it had been Malema who imposed the changes.
“Even if he did do that, it’ sa good thing to impose,” she said.
“Let us have good things imposed on us, there is nothing bad about it.
“It’s something we are proud of as the EFF, that we are not just talking about women in top positions and are making sure that there are guidelines and that women are placed in strategic positions and that we do destroy patriarchy.”
She said the move was necessary to comply with the party’s founding manifesto and to deal with patriarchy.
“It was based on that. “You cannot continue having a top five of all men and think it’s OK to do that.
“Delegates should have been [made aware] at this point because we already have a guideline that’s very clear,” she said.
Mathys denied that the move was a subversion of democracy, saying it was an exercise of democratic centralism.
Makhetha has also supported the decision that he be removed.
Provincial leader Zilindile Vena said on Monday that the party had to act after the failure by delegates to elect women in the top five sparked a big debate.
Vena described the exclusion of women from the top five as a shock.
“There were engagements after and outside the conference and [in] the branches to a point that the custodians of the conference had no choice but to engage and come to a decision,” he told TRUFM.
The EFF said Makhetha and Mqwayiza would both remain in the provincial command team.
Mlokoti said on Monday she was ready to hit the ground running as deputy chair.
“I contested for the position at our provincial people’s assembly precisely because I thought I had a contribution to make in the growth of the EFF in the province,” she said.
“So it’s not so much about how I feel, but about how much contribution I have to make to the collective actions of the leadership of the EFF in the province to grow the movement, and to provide a credible alternative to the people of this province, who have been neglected by the incumbent government. “I’m a leader with proven credentials in the province, and I am going to continue the work of building structures of the EFF, to ensure that our branches are vibrant and are able to respond to the needs of our people in every single village, township and suburban area in this province.”
Makhetha declined to comment.
Other affected leaders had not responded to questions by print deadline on Monday.
Earlier in November, Malema slammed the absence of women in the newly elected top five.
“There’s no solution in SA without women at the centre of that development,” he told delegates at the conference.
“You have failed the task as delegates of the Eastern Cape.
“You have completely failed to fulfil your mission, and that mission is that in everything we do, we put women at the centre,” he said.
Political analyst Prof Susan Booysen described the party’s handling of the issue as strange, saying she had not come across an incident like it.
She said parties usually planned and gave space to women to work in their political structures and to rise in the leadership ranks.
“That is done before the elections, [not] to come as an afterthought to say ‘sorry you have not been elected’,” she said. In her view the changes did amount to a subversion of democracy, she added.