Cape Town - The two EFF members of the provincial legislature, Melikhaya Xego and Nosipho Makamba Botya have resigned their seats following changes in their party’s provincial leadership at elections held in October last year.
The resignations were reported by Speaker Daylin Mitchell in a brief announcement that said the resignations had taken effect on Saturday January 28.
Reached for comment, the now former EFF Western Cape Provincial chairperson Xego said neither he, nor former deputy chairperson Makamba-Botya were allowed by the EFF to speak to the media about their resignations as it was an internal party matter.
Xego, who would only say he would now be heading home to Plettenberg Bay to spend time and consult with his family as to what he plans to do next, referred all further queries on the issue to EFF secretary general Marshall Dlamini.
Makamba Botya said: “Yes I have resigned as a result of redeployment. I am deployed in the National structure of the EFF.”
By the time of writing neither Dlamini nor EFF national spokesperson Sinawo Tambo had responded to queries.
However in a statement issued following the EFF’s highest decision making body the Central Command Team meeting on Sunday, the party said it had decided to recompose the deployment of public representatives to Parliament and provincial legislatures.
“Accordingly, a number of MPs and MPLs who occupied those positions on the basis of the political responsibilities they held in EFF structures will resign with immediate effect.”
The EFF said this would ensure that there was alignment between the leadership of its structures and the party’s leadership in governance.
Thanking the former MPs and MPLs for their service, the EFF said: “their names and service will forever remain written in history as they continue at the forefront of the struggles for the people.”
The new EFF Western Cape provincial chairperson and deputy are EFF Cape Metro Regional Chairperson Unathi Ntame and Drakenstein Municipality Councilor Thembile Klaas respectively.
It is expected that the two will replace Xego and Makamba Botya in the legislature which gathers in Cape Town for the official opening of its fifth session and the Premier’s State of the Province Address (Sopa), which are set to take place on Thursday, February 16.
Meanwhile the DA in the legislature have said that following a case of assault having been opened against controversial ANC MPL Andile Lili in November last year for hitting the principal of Inkanini Primary School in Khayelitsha, they will be referring the matter to the legislature’s Conduct Committee.
DA MPL Ricardo Mackenzie said: “While we wait for the law to run its course, we call on the ANC to uphold the integrity of our legislature and subject their member to its disciplinary processes.”
ANC Deputy Chief Whip Khalid Sayed, said: “Anybody, especially citizens of the Western Cape, has the right to lay whatever complaint they wish with the Conduct Committee.”
Sayed said that in the spirit of accountability, transparency and integrity, the ANC would welcome such a complaint for the committee to process.
“However, we know the DA’s goal in this matter is to score cheap political points. If only the DA was concerned about the state of schools in Khayelitsha as they are with this matter.
“As we saw last year, there is a particular grouping within the DA which targets Lili and so we would certainly hope that the Conduct Committee will deal with this matter fairly but also without involving politics.”