Prominent EFF MPs Andile Mngxitama and Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalala had to scurry for cover yesterday as the EFF started fighting among themselves even before they could fight President Jacob Zuma in parliament.
Mngxitama’s shirt was ripped off his body and he left the Cape Sun in Cape Town’s city centre in a getaway car with Litchfield-Tshabalala after Western Cape EFF members disrupted a press conference the two MPs had called, apparently to expose an alleged plot by the EFF leadership to fire them as MPs.
Mngxitama and Litchfield-Tshabalala are both viewed as belonging to the Africanist grouping in the EFF, who are seen as being at odds with EFF leader Julius Malema’s former ANC youth leaguers.
They later announced that they would boycott the Sona because they could not consciously participate in a campaign to force Zuma to answer Nkandla questions when the campaign had been used as a bargaining chip to negotiate their own expulsion.
Malema has distanced himself from yesterday’s attacks, saying Mngxitama must be allowed to speak his mind.
Mngxitama, who has fallen out with party leadership after he spoke out against the North West leader Papiki Baboile being allowed to lead the provincial party from his jail cell, called the press conference yesterday ahead of the State of the Nation address.
In an interview with e.tv, Mngxitama and Litchfield-Tshabalala accused Malema and Floyd Shivambu of going behind their backs to negotiate with the ANC to change the parliamentary rules to expel seven EFF MPs from parliament.
Mngxitama said the EFF had to rid itself of the culture of corruption Malema and his cohorts had inherited from the ANC. Litchfield-Tshabalala said there was neither democracy nor transparency in the party, which is why the leadership had sent members to assault them.
EFF members turn on each other
Mngxitama’s shirt was ripped off his body and he left the Cape Sun in Cape Town’s city centre in a getaway car with Litchfield-Tshabalala after Western Cape EFF members disrupted a press conference the two MPs had called, apparently to expose an alleged plot by the EFF leadership to fire them as MPs.
Mngxitama and Litchfield-Tshabalala are both viewed as belonging to the Africanist grouping in the EFF, who are seen as being at odds with EFF leader Julius Malema’s former ANC youth leaguers.
They later announced that they would boycott the Sona because they could not consciously participate in a campaign to force Zuma to answer Nkandla questions when the campaign had been used as a bargaining chip to negotiate their own expulsion.
Malema has distanced himself from yesterday’s attacks, saying Mngxitama must be allowed to speak his mind.
Mngxitama, who has fallen out with party leadership after he spoke out against the North West leader Papiki Baboile being allowed to lead the provincial party from his jail cell, called the press conference yesterday ahead of the State of the Nation address.
In an interview with e.tv, Mngxitama and Litchfield-Tshabalala accused Malema and Floyd Shivambu of going behind their backs to negotiate with the ANC to change the parliamentary rules to expel seven EFF MPs from parliament.
Mngxitama said the EFF had to rid itself of the culture of corruption Malema and his cohorts had inherited from the ANC. Litchfield-Tshabalala said there was neither democracy nor transparency in the party, which is why the leadership had sent members to assault them.
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