By Doreen Mokgolo
The newly elected leaders of the EFF face the difficult task of reviving the party before the 2026 local elections.
Most of the top six leaders are the same people who have been in charge during the party’s decline over the last five years. Can they turn things around?
Since the May elections, the EFF has lost support. Some leaders and members have moved to the MK Party, and the party has struggled to attract donors. Julius Malema, who was re-elected as president, said donors fear being victimised.
On Saturday, the EFF held its third National People’s Assembly at the Nasrec Expo Centre. Delegates elected the top six leaders and 66 additional members of the Central Command Team, with 33 of them being women.
Malema was re-elected as president for the third time without any opposition. Godrich Gardee, who was the party’s first general secretary, is now deputy president, replacing Marshall Dlamini.
Nontando Nolutshungu, an MP, was chosen as the new national chairperson.
Dlamini kept his role as secretary-general, while party spokesperson Leigh-Ann Mathys was elected deputy secretary-general. Omphile Maotwe also kept her position as treasurer.
The only changes in the top six are that Poppy Mailola and Veronica Mente were not re-elected. Mailola was the deputy secretary-general, and Mente was the national chairperson.
The voting process was called democratic, but the list of leaders was already circulating in the media before the three-day conference. All nominees were elected without opposition.
Although the theme of the conference was “Defend, Rebuild, and Advance,” Malema said no new structures would be created for a women’s league or unions. He claimed these structures could be used by leaders who failed to get positions in the Central Command Team.
Malema also suggested replacing the student command with a youth command to represent all young people. Delegates rejected this idea and insisted that the student command should stay while forming a new structure.
Pictured above: The newly elected EFF top six.
Source: Doreen Mokgolo
