MBOMBELA – The EFF has slammed the welcoming of 800 former ANC members back to the party as a publicity stunt.
While the mass of mostly young people clamoured to receive their yellow T-shirts, the EFF leadership snorted that the ruling party’s rally on Saturday was propaganda.
The ANC in Mpumalanga welcomed back what seemed like 800 people which it said were former members who had left to join opposition parties.
People were bused in, particularly from KaBokweni to the showgrounds behind Mbombela Stadium near Mataffin – an area one community organiser for the ANC told Lowvelder had become known as the EFF’s house.
The new members were received by provincial executive member Ms Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, who led the young crowd in taking the party’s oath after they had discarded their red T-shirts, some tearing them to shreds.
She said current members should welcome the newly returned ones with open arms, as “all members are equal”.
She was greeted by chants of, “Hands off Zuma” on what was the second day of the party’s national executive committee meeting in Gauteng.
Ahead of time allegations that the Gupta family had offered individuals positions in the president Mr Jacob Zuma’s cabinet were expected to be discussed.
Instead the ruling party emerged calling for unity as the country heads for local government elections later this year.
The community organiser said the ANC had initially lost the members as it was a fashion among young people to join other parties.
“They are young, they want to be active. That is something we plan to work on, to get them more involved and listen to their issues.”
On the stage three DA members also discarded their blue shirts. Parties have made a big show of other members joining their own over the past year.
In February the DA welcomed 100 ANC members in Mashishing.
Also last month the leader of the Save ANC Mpumalanga, Mr Sipho Monareng, publicly defected to the EFF along with supporters, and in September former ANC mayor of Mbombela Mr Isaiah Khoza resigned from the ruling party to join the EFF.
In June last year as many as an estimated 1 000 fighters denounced their membership to join the ruling ANC in Mpumalanga, among them former MPL Ms Ayanda Tshabalala.
Provincial leader of the EFF Mr Collen Sedibe said they were not shaken in the least by the “walkover”.
“It was propaganda. People were lured there under false pretences: They were told that they were being transported to an EFF meeting. Others were ANC members thinking they were attending an address by the premier. Everyone on the buses were handed EFF T-shirts, which is not even our real T-shirts.”
Sedibe said no members had resigned from any EFF branches in Ehlanzeni. “It was a publicity stunt. It is an attempt for them to appear relevant to the people.”
