Former EFF MP Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi has revealed that he has dumped the red berets.
Image: Itumeleng English/ Independent Newspaper.
Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi has officially resigned from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
The former party spokesperson and member of Parliament (MP) confirmed this in an exclusive interview with SABC News on Monday.
"I am leaving party politics, I believe I have made my contribution in that space,” he said.
“We don’t live in a one-party state, we are not in camps or a band. Politics in South Africa is a free activity, and party politics are not the only way to contribute to society.”
Breaking his silence months after an unstable relationship with the party and particularly leader Julius Malema, Ndlozi said he will now venture into academia and surely contribute to civil society.
This is after he made several attempts to the leadership about an investigation into claims that he was planning to leave the party and join the MK Party.
But, he said he did not receive any response from the party.
Ndlozi has admitted that his tenure with the EFF came to an end at the December convention, which caused him to decide to leave politics completely.
When Ndlozi was conspicuously absent from the party's Elective Conference in December, speculation started.
He said he was suspended for about a month and two weeks before the third National People’s Assembly (NPA) which was held in December.
The reasons were that he knew about the then deputy president Floyd Shivambu’s move to join the MK Party and also that he was suspected of working with the MKP.
“I was suspended about six weeks before the EFF conference and the suspension was unconventional in that it didn't rely on the code of conduct of the EFF summoned by its constitution.
“They claimed that I'm part of the infiltration strategy by the MK Party and the second being the fact that I knew about Shivambu’s departure,” he said.
In December, party leader Julius Malema refuted all the claims that Ndlozi was suspended.
Speaking on the future, Ndlozi said he plans to focus on community development, research and advocacy.
“Party politics do not have a monopoly on contributing to social change, and I have chosen to step away,” he stated.
Ndlozi clarified that he had no plans on joining MKP led by former president Jacob Zuma.
“I can state categorically now that I never planned to join the MKP I still don't, I never worked with anyone in the MKP in relation to some conspiracy about my departure. The information they had was based largely on lies," he said.
“I did know about the departure of Floyd Shivambu, he told me about his considerations, and I told him to take the leadership into confidence, he did," said Ndlozi.
“The idea that I should have run behind his back and informed other people, or the leadership suggests that I'm an informant, a gossiper or a wedge driver, I am none of those.”
Ndlozi resigned as an EFF MP after losing his seat in the party’s highest decision-making body, the Central Command Team (CCT).
This was after he was barred from attending the party’s elective conference in December. Malema said he was not a leader of the EFF.
Ndlozi was not allowed to stand for a position at the conference despite the masses rooting for him to be the deputy president of the EFF.
Malema said he would not work with people whom he believed were trying to destroy the revolution.
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