There will never be factions in the EFF – Mpofu

The party’s national chairperson Dali Mpofu took the opportunity to dispute reports from over the weekend that there was faction fighting within the EFF.

“We have no factions. There will never be factions in this party,” he said.

This follows reports that there are those within the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) who are opposed to leader Julius Malema.

Following reports last weekend that a decision has been made by Malema to remove national chairperson Dali Mpofu from a list of leaders ahead of the party’s upcoming elective conference, Sunday World reports that another faction within the EFF has put forward a list where Mpofu has been named as chairperson.

According to the publication, the stage has now been set for a full-scale succession battle that could see deep cracks form in the foundation of the relatively newly-formed opposition party.

The group opposed to Malema is reportedly called #KokotaPaino (KKP).

READ MORE: Malema: Don’t be surprised when Mpofu runs against me as EFF president

While the two camps seem to disagree over what the political future holds for Mpofu, they have both agreed that general secretary Godrich Gardee’s time is up, the publication reports.

Apparently, the #KokotaPaino faction wants EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi to replace Gardee, while the Malema camp favours Marshall Dlamini.

In an interview on Power FM in July, Mpofu told host Aldrin Sampear that no one in the EFF was in the party for “personal ambitions”.

“If [Malema is] re-elected in December this year, I would be surprised if he stands for another term. I am not even sure if he will be available right now,” Mpofu said.

“We believe in the continuity of leadership. For example, even myself I would never want to be in the same position for two or three terms because it would stifle the organisation. We need fresh ideas, fresh thinking…”

At a press conference in September, Malema made a similar statement, saying that Mpofu could contest the EFF presidency and that this would be proof of the party’s democratic processes, not its division.

“All positions in the EFF are contested, including that of the president. Don’t say there are divisions when Dali contests for the presidency in December, you must be happy that we have democratic processes,” Malema said at the time.

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman.)