After months of speculation about his future, Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi has finally resigned as the Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) Member of Parliament (MP).
In a statement, the EFF said the move was “voluntary” and his departure was processed together with that of another Fighter, Yazini Tetyana.
“These voluntary requests to be released from the deployment, which were sent to the Secretary-General of the EFF consecutively and within days of each other, expressed gratitude to the EFF for thr opportunity to serve the organisation and the people of South Africa.
“The EFF has accepted the respective voluntary respects to be released from the deployment of the two fighters, who have diligently served the organisation in their respective deployments since the EFF has had representation in the legislative sphere,’ the EFF said in a statement on Thursday, January 9.
In early December 2024, Ndlozi removed the Member of Parliament (MP) label from his X (Twitter) bio. The unexplained removal came a few days after EFF President Julius Malema took a swipe at Ndlozi at a media briefing on the NPA sidelines, which the former EFF spokesperson did not attend.
Ndlozi was further isolated when EFF delegates excluded him from the newly elected national leadership.
That raised speculation that the former EFF national spokesperson and Central Command Team (CCT) member may be planning a future outside the Red Berets after 11 years as a member.
His move came after his public fallout with re-elected EFF president, Malema over claims that Ndlozi was part of a faction aligned with the party’s former Deputy President, Floyd Shivambu, that secretly planned to topple him at the EFF’s third National People’s Assembly (NPA). This elective conference ended on December 15.
Shivambu later led an exodus of former senior EFF leaders to former President Jacob Zuma’s Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Party, where he was later appointed secretary general. This included former EFF National Chairperson Dali Mpofu.
Tensions between Malema and Ndlozi took a new twist in August when Ndlozi’s partner, actress Mmabatho Montsho, publicly supported Shivambu’s departure from the EFF, which Malema described as a betrayal.
