Former EFF Deputy President Floyd Shivambu is expected to build Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) structures and craft policies as part of preparations for him to occupy a senior leadership role, said MK party insiders. 

They said Julius Malema’s former right-hand-man was recruited to also attract the youth and black professionals, as MK President Jacob Zuma prepared a leadership core that would appeal to different constituencies and be a viable alternative to the ANC before the next elections.  

Moreover, they believed Zuma wanted Shivambu as the party’s policy chief in the mould of former ANC policy Tsar Joel Netshitenzhe, and a potential top-six leader after the elective conference, given his experience in helping form and build the EFF into a formidable political machinery. 

Shivambu was being prepared alongside former ANC Youth League (ANCYL) coordinator Magasela Mzobe. Some MKP members and leaders said that while the party’s leadership had kept Shivambu’s arrival and future role a closely guarded secret, they expected the young intellectual to build party structures and craft coherent policies. 

“Of course, being prepared for a leadership role, yes. Definitely. He will definitely make it. As to after which generation, I am not sure. I have always maintained that we haven’t seen President Zuma’s top six because the understanding was there that we still had to go through a lot of trials and errors. If he had already put people out there, that storm would have collapsed them like it collapsed [Jabulani] Khumalo. It was too heavy. It could very well be that the actual top six are being prepared somewhere. What we have now are interim structures so that by the time we go to the conference, we can finally elect. But yes, Floyd is being prepared. I think it would start from Parliament,” said an MKP leader who spoke anonymously. 

Added another MKP leader: “There are challenges in MK of organizational processes, as well as the policies, which Floyd is damn good at that. Floyd would not necessarily regurgitate ANC policies. He is probably the best person to understand where [the] ANC has copied certain policies, and how to counter those regressive policies that are good to write but would never see the light of the day.”

“I don’t know if Floyd has [the] ambition to lead and be president because if he doesn’t, then he would prioritize the agenda of the Progressive Caucus beyond himself. Then, he would be known as the Chief Architect behind everything else. Historians, researchers and journalists would know that people like Joel Netshitendzhe are viewed as such in the politics of South Africa.”

Other MKP sources said Shivambu was viewed as a future deputy president and even president within the MK party. They said his joining the MKP triggered interest in the party from previously hostile constituencies.  

“At the ground level, it has also made provinces which were very difficult to crack attractive. Now, all of a sudden, you find a neutral point of those that may like Floyd from the ANC and his followers from EFF now coming to join uMkhonto we Sizwe. Oh, no, we are very excited. A person like myself, I understand very well that at the formative stage of MK, we are going to have to embrace different skills. He is bringing a wealth of knowledge, experience, and expertise,” said a third MKP leader. 

“Look, we may celebrate the African National Congress (ANC) all we like, but these guys are coming from the backdrop of having to start a party as opposed to a party which is celebrating a hundred years. Starting a party is not a child’s play. It comes with all its challenges, although they may have been fortunate because, at the time when they started the EFF, they were fighting President Zuma, saying ‘Zuma must fall’. Unlike MK, we had to go through the elections as the known enemies of the system without any backing.”

The source added that it was ironic that Shivambu and others who were “at the forefront of the collapse of President Zuma” were now at “the forefront of the emergence of his party”. 

The MKP leader cast doubt on assertions that Shivambu could have been deployed by EFF to prepare for a merger with the MKP, saying it was highly unlikely given a reported fallout between the two former allies. 

“Do you honestly believe that Floyd would then make space for Malema for a senior position? I don’t know if he would do that, given the fact he has been suffocated, and everyone has been calling for that. There is also that element of saying that maybe Julius has pushed him for far too long. The issue of VBS could also have played a role, and if that is the case, is it doing the opposite because Floyd is now being celebrated? The whole day, the whole country was ‘Floyd this and Floyd that’ yesterday. For the moment, we were talking about someone without any single bit of allegation,” added the MKP insider. 

Shivambu sent shock waves in political circles after unexpectedly quitting as the Red Beres’ deputy president and announcing he was joining the MKP. Shivambu, who co-founded EFF in 2013 alongside Malema and others, also resigned from all EFF leadership roles in a letter addressed to the party’s president. 

“The Chairperson of Ward 44 Johannesburg has informed me that my membership of the EFF has lapsed. Please be informed that I will not renew my membership of the EFF in Ward 44 which is one of the best-performing Wards of the EFF in [the] Johannesburg region. I also request to resign my position as Member of Parliament and all positions I hold in the EFF. I will only do so after receiving a go-ahead from the organisation because it is the EFF that deployed me to Parliament,” Shivambu said. 

He added: “I cherish and appreciate the work that we collectively did in the EFF and building a formidable organisation. I believe the aspirations and vision contained in the Organisational Redesign document of the EFF can still be achieved. My non-renewal of membership of the EFF is not a vote of no confidence in the organisation, but a revolutionary act that will allow Progressive Forces to unite and work towards the agenda for progressive and revolutionary change.”

He later described his move to the MKP on social media as “the most solid and sound decision ever”.

This came amid reports that Shivambu and Malema had fallen out, and that EFF secretary general Marshall Dlamini had been earmarked as the party’s new deputy president after the December elective conference.

After reading out his resignation letter at a hastily arranged EFF media briefing in Johannesburg on Thursday, Shivambu confirmed he was joining the MKP but declined to elaborate on what attracted him to Zuma’s party. 

The former EFF MP and chief whip also brushed aside questions about what role he would play in the newly formed party, which won 15 per cent of the national vote during the May general elections, replacing the EFF as the country’s third biggest party.

Shivambu claimed the MKP had not promised him any position or deployment. 

“There have not been any positions assigned to me. There is no commitment or any promise of deployment to Parliament or anything. It’s a decision I have taken. I think and believe that it will add meaningful value to the progressive and revolutionary politics that must be pursued by all progressive forces in South Africa,” he added. 

Speaking at the same media briefing, Malema welcomed Shivambu’s resignation, adding it hurt and pained him the same way the death of his mother did. 

“When he sent me the letter yesterday (Wednesday), I felt the same pain when I received the news of the passing away of my mother because Floyd, to me, is not just a comrade. He is a brother, and will remain a brother even when he pursues his political career differently. We formed this organisation together, and I told him that resigning from the EFF is equal to resigning from himself because this is his organisation,” said Malema, adding he expected some leaders loyal to Shivambu to follow suit.   

Even though the EFF constitution barred members who left the party from coming back, Malema said he had offered to welcome back Shivambu “because you are not a member. You are a founder of this political party.”

“So, you are not our enemy. We will never be your enemies; we will continue to engage on different political and personal issues. Floyd is not the only one; Jimmy Manyi has also resigned to go and join MK. There will be many others who are going to leave the EFF because they have got their loyalty and support to the deputy president. Fighters on the ground should be prepared for more people to follow.” 

Malema insisted that Shivambu’s departure should “not serve as a point of collapse” for the EFF, adding he would never leave the party he co-founded after his expulsion from the ANC even if he were to remain alone. 

“The party has never been through this testing moment. The EFF will have to pass this test. Or it will have to die. And we, as members and leaders of the EFF, will defend its life. We will make sure it lives forever for generations to come. This is not the end. It is the beginning of the journey. You can rest assured we are not going to be howling and hurling insults at each other. Individuals will leave the organization, but the organization must still stand,” he said, adding the party had “lost a valuable member, but the show continues”.  

In a statement, the MKP immediately welcomed Shivambu and former EFF MP Mzwanele Manyi into its fold, saying the arrival of the two “progressive and politically experienced comrades” would further “strengthen the agenda” of the Progressive Caucus. 

“Cde. Manyi and Cde. Shivambu will be deployed respectively according to their strengths and expertise. As leadership, we ask that all members of Umkhonto we Sizwe Party welcome these two progressive comrades as they begin to form part of driving the agenda of the revolution,” said spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela. 

He did not mention the roles the two women were expected to play in the party, sparking speculation about whether Shivambu’s departure was an “EFF deployment” ahead of a merger with the MKP or a part of Zuma’s strategy to collapse Malema’s party and consolidate MKP’s role as the new voice of the left. 

Not every EFF member was happy with Manyi and Shivambu’s departures. EFF MP Carl Niehaus said Manyi’s decision to leave the EFF showed he had no integrity. 

“@Mzwanele Manyi, I am sad to say this, but I have to say it: Your conduct lacks integrity. At a difficult time in your life the #CommanderInChuef, @Julius_S_Malema, accepted you, embraced you in the @EFFSouthAfrica, and was good to you. This is not the way to say thank you,” Niehaus wrote on his X account. 

An EFF member, known as Pebetse Pebetse, called on the red berets’ leadership to treat the MKP as “an enemy number 1 for the sake of [the] EFF’s survival”.

She said it was mind-boggling that Malema “still doesn’t MK as their survival threat number 1” despite an IPSOS survey showing that the EFF was destined to grow its electoral support to 18 percent or more from 10 percent until Zuma formed the MKP. 

“The flirting of EFF leadership and MK is going to send EFF to its knees because unhappy members will see MK as [an] alternative than going back to the ANC,” Pebetse wrote on her Facebook page. 

“You support a friend in time of need, [and] give him [the] best legal minds to solve his problem with the law. In return, he buys a house like yours, [has the] same house rules, seduces your wife, flirts with your children and convinces them to move into his house because it’s better than yours. That person is not your friend. It’s your enemy.” 

Daniel Marven, a prominent EFF member and businessman, said Shivambu’s decision to join the MKP “has hurt me so much”. 

“Through your decision DP Floyd Shivambu, I believe there is a strategic plan in joining the MKP. But the decision has hurt me so much. Carry the revolutionary spirit also to MK. We are not enemies, but the pain went deep into the heart,” he said on his X and other social media accounts.