As anticipation builds for the 2024 National and Provincial Elections, political contenders are actively jockeying for influential positions.
As tensions run high, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader, Julius Malema, has unveiled that he intended to displace the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) from the Newcastle Municipality before the upcoming polls.
Malema articulated his ambitions during a recent address to the EFF KZN Provincial Ground Forces Forum in Pietermaritzburg. In a bid to consolidate influence, he delegated the task to his deputy, Floyd Shivambu, to ally with Team Sugar South Africa (TSSA).
Speaking at the event, Malema began by stating, “In Newcastle, we were supposed to be a government in Newcastle.”
However, as the EFF was denied victory, Malema emphasised that every vote made for Team Sugar South Africa (TSSA) was a vote taken from the EFF. Despite this, Malema declared, “We are prepared to give Team Sugar mayor of Newcastle so that we remove the IFP before the elections.”
Furthermore, Malema then assigned Shivambu the task of reaching out to TSSA. Notably, TSSA’s president, Newcastle’s Deputy Mayor Cllr Musa Thwala, was formerly an executive committee member of the EFF before his removal from provincial leadership due to a disagreement. Subsequently, Cllr Thwala established TSSA, forming a coalition with the IFP in 2021 and securing seats in both the Amajuba District Municipality and Newcastle Municipality.
Speaking with Newcastillian News about the matter, Cllr Musa Thwala said, “When Malema said what he did, I didn’t expect it at all, and with the upcoming elections and everyone working hard at the moment, it is a difficult decision to make. Also, no one has even attempted to reach out to me as yet.”
However, despite the difficulty in the decision, Cllr Thwala stressed that TSSA was growing exponentially in KwaZulu-Natal and neighbouring provinces with TSSA sporting branches in Gauteng, Limpopo and cities in KZN such as Durban. With this in mind, he affirmed that joining with the EFF was not on the cards.
“We are a stand alone political party and will not be told what to do by another political party, Also, I am the President of TSSA and come the elections, myself, President Ramaphosa and Malema will be the same, as I intend to contest for the presidency,” declared Cllr Thwala, who further emphasised that he and party’s hard work would be lost if he simply joined forces with another political party.
In addition to this, Thwala noted that with TSSA determined to make an impact on both a National and Provincial level, he had no time to dwell on Malema’s decisions. “As a politician and a councillor, my focus is on service delivery and ensure that myself, and other councillors have the community’s best interests at heart. I am also focusing on securing seats in Parliament,” emphasised Cllr Thwala.
If TSSA was able to secure seats at Parliament, Cllr Thwala ensured that Newcastle would remain a priority for him, and he would take steps to uplift the community.
Moreover, as Cllr Thwala focuses on TSSA and makes it clear that he did not intend to be lured in by other political parties, the Deputy Mayor remarked he was considered a threat to certain political leaders as he would not compromise on his mission to serve the community.
Responding to Malema’s statements, IFP national spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa remarked, “We have been inundated with media enquiries to react to utterances by EFF Leader, Julius Malema, at a rent-a-crowd event held in Pietermaritzburg this past weekend. As a general rule asiwuphenduli umsangano (you don’t answer madness).”
As the political arena intensifies in the run-up to the elections, observers are left pondering the implications of these tactical manoeuvres and what the outcome will be.
While we wait to see, be sure to share your insights on these political developments in the comment section below.
