DOCUMENTS

We knew the ANC would self-destruct - Floyd Shivambu

EFF Chief Whip says this is opening the space for a progressive black political party

We knew the ANC would self-destruct - EFF

Johannesburg - The EFF has always known that the ANC would self-destruct, the party said on Friday.

"We are not worried about the ANC, we knew as early as 2013 when the EFF was formed that the ANC is going to self-destruct," EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu said ahead of the start of party's third annual plenum in Kempton Park.

He said the party's founding manifesto mentioned that the ANC would self-destruct, and "it is doing exactly that".

"That is why the EFF exists because, in the process of them self-destructing, there's going to be a progressive black political party that is going to take over political power and bring about economic freedom in SA," he added.

"The ANC must leave, they are at 54% on average at national level now, so it will be easy to flip them below 50% in 2019."

Shivambu added that in preparation for the 2019 national elections, the party "has assigned the most senior leadership to the provinces in which we did not have strong presence before".

Focus on KZN, Eastern Cape

"We are going to focus on what do we do to strengthen the organisation and have it present in all the branches and voting districts in SA," he said.

The party will be focusing its attention on KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, and has assigned leader Julius Malema to spearhead the ground work in KwaZulu-Natal.

"We have focused on those areas because when we unleash the elections machinery in 2019 it must be ready to attack. It must be ready to convince millions of others to vote for the EFF," Shivambu said.

"In 2019, there must be change of government. There must be change of those who are currently governing and replaced by a progressive movement that is the EFF."

At the conference, which starts on Friday and ends on Sunday, the party will discuss Malema's political report, the election report and how the EFF fared, and the upcoming four elective provincial conferences to be held in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Gauteng and the North West.

News24