Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has blamed his former deputy Floyd Shivambu for the party's poor electoral performance in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
Ahead of the May 29 election, the EFF had tasked Shivambu with expanding its presence in the province.
But after the national and provincial elections, the party only got 2% of the vote in KZN.
This only granted them one seat in the provincial legislature.
Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) obtained 45.93% the vote in KZN.
Shivambu, who founded the EFF, dumped the party in August to join MK. He said this was the best decision ever.
Speaking at the EFF’s Gauteng Provincial General Assembly (PGA) over the weekend, Malema linked the party’s decline to the rise of the MK, stating that Shivambu was to blame.
Malema claimed that a glaring example of infiltration was the planned organisational collapse in KZN before the elections.
“We are even being kind by saying that the person who was deployed to KZN for elections was divorced from reality in KZN.
“It may even be true, and more worrying, that he was aware of the damage to come in KZN and kept quiet because he had already chosen to betray this movement,” he said.
Malema added that senior leaders who left the party did not only lead the “infiltration and betrayal” but wanted them to respond or act favourably to their infiltration.
Malema also alleged that Shivambu pressured him, eager to secure a position in the Government of National Unity (GNU).
"We look back just a few months ago, as the leadership standing in front of you today, were put under immense pressure by those who have left us behind, to write petitions to the ANC and ostensibly the GNU, for inclusion in their compromised government, which is led by the descendants of settler colonialists and white supremacists.
“We were pressured to do so because there was a strong desire for positions, at the expense of our principles of anti-racism and the return of the land,” he said.
Meanwhile, the EFF will brief the media on Monday ahead of its elective conference next month.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
IOL Politics