KZN court challenge divides EFF

Vusi Khoza Picture: S'bonelo Ngcobo/African News Agency (ANA) Archives

Vusi Khoza Picture: S'bonelo Ngcobo/African News Agency (ANA) Archives

Published Jan 16, 2019

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Durban - The EFF in KwaZulu-Natal has accused some of its members of trying to derail its election campaigns by taking the party to court.

EFF provincial chairperson Vusi Khoza responded with outrage to an affidavit filed at the Pietermaritzburg High Court demanding the nullification of the provincial structure.

Khoza, who is listed among the 39 respondents, said “we will see them in court”.

“We are going to respond after a meeting with our legal team soon.

“These are enemy agents whose aim is to derail our campaign, but they won’t succeed because our agenda is straightforward as we are launching our election manifesto in February in Tshwane, and after that we will come back to the province to campaign,” said Khoza.

He said the matter would be heard at the Pietermaritzburg High Court on February 4.

The aggrieved members who have turned to the Pietermaritzburg High Court met the media at a hotel in Durban yesterday to explain their action.

The litigants said they were chairpersons of party branches in the Ugu (Lower South Coast) Region.

They alleged that the regional conference held in August had been filled with bogus delegates, and said that by extension the provincial structure, which is led by Khoza, should also be dissolved.

According to the court papers filed by Senzeni Wiseman Makhanya, the Ward 16 EFF chairperson in Umzumbe, “the RCT (Regional Command Team) was fraudulently elected by the RPA (Regional People’s Assembly) as bank deposit slips were forged to falsely reflect that 74 out of the 85 EFF branches in the Ugu Region had been paid up, when they were not”.

“As these branches were not in good standing they were not entitled to vote in the election for the RCT at the RPA, but they did.

“Several delegates attending the RPA were not from the wards they purportedly represented,” read the affidavit.

Makhanya said that shortly after the regional conference he had filed a complaint with EFF secretary general Godrich Gardee, who responded by saying that there were no irregularities.

Marshal Dlamini, an EFF national executive committee member deployed in KwaZulu-Natal, said the party would defend itself in court.

“Our legal representatives are already dealing with the matter.”

When asked why the leadership did not deal with the Ugu Region matter to its finality to avoid a court challenge, he said, “I cannot get to the merit of the matter because it is already in court”.

He said the members would not be punished for taking the party to court.

“Because we do not subscribe to that as people should exercise their constitutional right,” said Dlamini.

Political Bureau

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