Regimented EFF cracks whip most
THE faces of 79 political leaders in parliament have changed – or disappeared – since the general elections in 2014.
A report by the SA Institute of Race Relations (IRR) reveals changes of lists were influenced largely by death, resignations and expulsions.
Ten MPs did not take up their well-paid seats.
The report compiled by IRR head of politics and governance Gareth van Onselen compared names submitted by the four main political parties then and now.
The ANC registered most deaths at eight, followed by the DA at two.
Of the 10 who failed to take up their seats, five were from the EFF, three from the ANC and two from the DA.
The EFF seems to be the one cracking the whip most when it comes to discipline as it has expelled three MPs against the DA’s one and the ANC’s two.
The 14-page report, titled “The EFF’s Internal Revolution”, states that by this month, 15 of the 25 EFF MPs in the National Assembly have resigned or been expelled since the 2014 elections. Four out of six EFF MPs in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) have also resigned or been expelled over the same period.
“In the National Assembly, the EFF’s turnover rate is exceptional, compared to that of each of the three other biggest parties. It dwarfs even that of the ANC, which has been riddled by infighting and division since 2014,” Van Onselen said.
The telling categories were resignations and expulsions. “From these, one is able to discern more about the political stability of any national caucus. And it is on this front that the EFF is, by some considerable distance, the most tumultuous of all the major political parties,” he said.
Between the National Assembly and the NCOP, the full EFF caucus of 31 members has seen 19 resignations, he said.
Andile Mngxitama, Mpho Ramakatsa and Magdalene Moonsamy were expelled by the party in 2015. They were found guilty on a range of misconduct charges after they accused the party leadership of misappropriating funds, among other things.
“Few things are more important to EFF commanderin-chief Julius Malema than discipline. And he practises a very particular kind of centralised control. The party – primarily directed by its central command structure – oversees its membership,” he said, adding that the internal organisation was highly regimented and authoritarian.
One indisputable fact was that the quality of the EFF MPs left a lot to be desired.
“But a turnover that high can only suggest a profound problem with the level of skills and expertise available to the EFF,” he said.
The permanent instability and fear of change constantly augmented the power of the party hierarchy. As a result, Van Onselen said the most powerful leaders in the National Assembly, Malema, his deputy Floyd Shivambu, secretary-general Godrich Gardee and spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi remained untouched. — tisoblackstar.co.za