The EFF is bleeding comrades after one of its estranged member Floyd Shivambu’s ally, Mpho Morolane left the party’s headquarters, Winnie Madikizela House allegedly following his mentor.
Speculation is rife that he is set to join the MK Party which recently recruited former EFF deputy president, Shivambu, and Mzwanele Manyi among many others.
Morolane, the former leader of the EFF Student Command (EFFSC) has become the latest EFF member to quit the party.
On Wednesday afternoon, Morolane ended all speculation when he posted a picture of himself in MK Party regalia saying: “A conscious decision taken to pursue the liberation of African people Mkhonto weSizwe is my new political home.”
In his resignation letter, Morolane addressed to the party’s secretary-general, Marshall Dlamini, and circulated on social media revealed that he has decided not to renew his membership after having spent more than 10 years as a member of the Red Berets.
The recent departures for staunch party members were closely followed by those of Sizwe Nkosi, the deputy branch secretary for the Chief Albert Luthuli sub-region of Mpumalanga, who last month decided not to renew his membership with the party after receiving notification from the secretary’s office that it was about to expire.
In his letter Morolane said:
“This epoch has presented unprecedented challenges to the July movement and thus my conscious decision to fully relinquish my membership and participation brings both deep sorrow infused with joy.
“It is with great difficulty that one has decided to step away from a decade of long affiliation with the Economic Freedom Fighters. My service to the organisation has been with humility, integrity and respect.
“It should be noted that one was never enticed into opposing the posture of the organisation publicly and on unsanctioned platforms even in instances where one was firmly opposed.
“The pain that one endured in decisions taken by the upper structure in relation to one’s tenure as the inaugural president of the Student Command has never warranted from one’s end disrespect to senior members.”
Morolane said he has chosen to take a different path and is prepared for the public humiliation his resignation might bring.
“The EFF has been my political home for over a decade but one has taken a conscious decision to pursue a different path.
“Rest assured we will forever be united in pursuit of the return of the land...
“One expects that the decision be respected and accepted. Furthermore, the vitriol that is to descend upon me once the realisation of my departure from the organisation has set in will equally be accepted,” he said.
The party was yet to comment on Morolane’s resignation with The Star’s request for comment unsuccessful at the time of going to print.
Last month, the party rubbished claims suggesting that one of its senior leaders, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, had also resigned.
This came after EFF president Julius Malema singled out Ndlozi’s partner Mmabatho Montsho for criticism after she liked a social media post by Shivambu.
EFF Central Command Team member and former MP, Anthony Mutumba, via social media described Morolane as an “opportunist” and a lazy careerist.
“Mpho Morolane is an opportunist who tried his level best to serve his stomach with the achievements of the EFFSC on insourcing of security guards and cleaners at Unisa.
“That is why he formed a union to eat from the very same security guards and cleaners who were in-sourced by the EFFSC.
“EFF didn't lose a leader in Mpho Morolane. It lost a careerist who lobbied to be in the CCT in order to go to Parliament and when it was not happening he stopped attending to his deployment as a protest of not making it to Parliament,” he said.
The Star