Pietermaritzburg - The Economic Freedom Fighters intend to use the momentum of the party's recent victories in student representative council (SRC) elections around the country to launch a campaign to become the second biggest political party in the country, EFF deputy leader Floyd Shivambu said on Saturday.
Speaking at the EFF’s two-day KwaZulu-Natal elective conference in Pietermaritzburg, he told delegates that while the EFF was looking to become the second biggest party, it was also "ready to govern".
“The EFF has got collective capacity to provide decisive leadership to the people of South Africa." The governing African National Congress was "a collective of corrupt and incompetent individuals". “That is why the EFF has to replace this bunch of incompetent people in government of South Africa,” Shivambu said to applause from delegates.
Young people on higher education campuses were looking to the EFF to deliver "real change", but winning SRC elections was not a guarantee of votes in the 2019 national and provincial elections. He called on the rank and file to mobilise party support ahead of the polls.
KwaZulu-Natal had the largest EFF membership in the country. “KZN is a strategic point for us to make a decisive shift in politics and our members should be ready to go to every part of the province to spread the EFF message.” Shivambu also warned members against sowing divisions in the party. “We do not want factionalists and gossipers in the EFF,” he said.
Nominations for the top five provincial positions were concluded by late afternoon, and MPLs Vusi Khoza and Vukani Ndlovu looked evenly matched for the position of provincial chairperson. Other positions also appeared to be tightly contested. Party leader Julius Malema is expected to address delegates on Sunday.