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[FILE IMAGE] Former EFF National Chairperson, Advocate Dali Mpofu.
The almost one-year old uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party has left an indelible impact on South Africa’s political landscape.
Not only has the party reduced the former governing party, the African National Congress (ANC)’s electoral support, it has also affected other parties such as the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
The EFF was ousted from the position of being the third largest party in the country following the rise of the MK Party at the May polls.
However, it seems that, that is not the only way in which the now official opposition is gnawing at the EFF.
The red berets have seen a mass exodus of senior leaders leaving it for the MK Party. The latest being former National Chairperson, Dali Mpofu.
Mpofu on leaving the EFF, “After a lot of soul searching, I’ve taken a decision that I will be joining MK. I’m joining MK because I believe that it is the vehicle through which we will achieve the much needed black and progressive unity so I’m doing so not necessarily to reject any other organisation but at this point in time, in November 2024, I am of the view that the vehicle through which we should drive that unity is uMkhonto weSizwe.”
Mpofu is South African lawyer, former businessman and former National Chairperson of the red beret, who is following in the footsteps former EFF Deputy President Floyd Shivambu.
Mpofu has revealed that he was involved in the formation of the MK Party.
In an exclusive interview with SABC News Political Editor Mzwandile Mbeje, Mpofu says the decision to form the now official opposition followed the 55th conference of the ANC in 2022 in which party President Cyril Ramaphosa was elected for a second term at the helm of the party.
Mpofu adds that there were engagements, chaired by himself, with the leaders of other political parties such as the UDM, PAC, ATM and the EFF, among others.
The now former red beret says there were covert discussions between himself and former President, Jacob Zuma.
Mpofu on MK formation, “There was a time when former president Zuma and I were the only people who knew about this project of the formation of MK because we had discussed after the 2022 conference of the ANC, very in depth, as to what needs to be done and we had various options, so this discussion took about 12 months.
Mbeje asked: Advocate Mpofu, I just need to get you very clear, were you part and parcel of the formation of uMkhonto weSizwe?
Mpofu replied: Absolutely.
Mpofu says he has not yet relayed the news of his departure from the EFF to its leader, Julius Malema.
However, Mpofu stresses that the move is not against the leader of the red berets but for the people of South Africa.
Mpofu on informing Malema: No, I haven’t to be fair and I have tried to reach out to him but there’s no need to inform anyone at any particular time. There’s no bad blood. We will talk.
Mbeje: As a courtesy?
Mpofu: Yes, as a courtesy, I’ll extend that courtesy even after this announcement and I’m sure that our paths will meet in this difficult journey for unity. There’s nothing personal about this at all. It’s not anything that is being done against a particular person. It’s something I’m doing for my people.
All this because Mpofu says he is displeased with the current state of affairs in relation to the Government of National Unity.
However, it does not seem like Malema received it in the way in which Mpofu had intended. In a post uploaded on social media platform “X”, Malema says the party will remain standing and it is not going anywhere under “a criminal syndicate,” supposedly referring to the MK Party.
The EFF is likely to see its upcoming elective conference as an opportunity to head back to the drawing board with Malema looking to reassert his power. But is this the beginning of the end for the party?
Malema says, “Comrades when you lose some votes, you are going to lose some friends. I have been where I am today that which you see, I have seen it before that those were very close to me, I woke up one day they were nowhere to be found, that those who betray me today were the closest after my wife to my glass of water. This organisation will never die.”
