On Thursday, Floyd Shivambu looked comfortable and at ease in his new MK Party dress – complete with a military camo cap and black shirt with the MK Party badge. 

He is the party’s national organiser and will form part of the highest decision-making body – the national high command.

He even took to the podium and seemed calm, and not at all sad or conflicted. 

Shivambu gave the aura of a man at peace.

It’s a stark change from what we’ve seen and read about – when, on Thursday last week, the former EFF deputy president announced he was resigning to join the MK Party. 

In past seven days, we read about how Julius Malema had left Shivambu out of the negotiations for positions for the government of national unity, how their relationship had soured since then, and the aggressive stance Malema took against Shivambu in his address to EFF supporters. It all laid bare a party struggling to cope with the exit of its co-founder. 

Shivambu, in his first address as an MK Party member, said he did not betray the revolution, like some had suggested, and that his pursuit of uniting the progressive forces was genuine. 

He said his decision to leave the EFF was not opportunistic because of that party’s electoral decline. 

He even revealed that a meeting was held with MK Party leader Jacob Zuma in October last year to unite the progressive forces. 

Whatever the true intentions of Shivambu and the future South Africa’s political left, one thing is certain: his move is one of the biggest political ramifications since the government of national unity was formed post the 29 May elections. 

As Moeletsi Mbeki said to me this week: “It is never a dull moment in wonderful South Africa.” 

In this week’s Friday Briefing, we look at Shivambu’s EFF exit and what it means to the party and to the political landscape of the country. 

Political reporter Siyamtanda Capa writes that many EFF members say they will not renew their membership because they see the party collapsing amid power struggles at the top.

Malema’s response to Shivambu’s resignation is highlighted by political analyst Mcebisi Ndletyana, as he writes that Malema seems to be erasing the EFF’s intellectual appeal to gain more personal control.

Ebrahim Harvey argues that Shivambu’s move to the MK Party is a mistake due to the chaotic state the party finds itself in post the 29 May elections.  

A member of the Progressive Caucus, the ATM’s Vuyolwethu Zungula, writes that, whether intended or not, Shivambu’s move is a strategic redistribution of resources among the left.

And, finally, Moeletsi Mbeki says in a Q&A that Shivambu was becoming an equivalent figure to Malema, even though the party tried to differentiate between the two leaders by saying that Shivambu was the intellectual centre and Malema the political centre. This clearly did not sit well with Malema.

Happy reading, 

Muhammad Hussain 

In-depth writer. 

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CARTOON BY CARLOS | 22 August 2024

Siyamtanda Capa | Why Malema-Shivambu split will spark EFF ground forces exodus

Mcebisi Ndletyana | From heartbreak to fury: How Malema is failing the EFF leadership test

Q&A | Moeletsi Mbeki on Floyd Shivambu and SA’s changing political landscape