EDITORIAL: Dubious opposition in parliament

The turmoil engulfing the EFF after the departure of its deputy president and founding member, Floyd Shivambu, is unlikely to end soon — and this does not bode well for opposition politics in parliament.

Party leader Julius Malema kicked off a roadshow to address party structures across the country on Monday. The EFF heads to an elective conference in December, where it is likely to elect new leaders. The party will remain in flux until then. Shivambu is the first, but is unlikely to be the last, defection to former president Jacob Zuma’s MK party.

While Malema has stressed that the EFF will remain part of the “progressive caucus” — a group of political parties opposing the government of national unity — relations with Zuma’s outfit will be tense. MK’s internal volatility — and opportunism — could destabilise the caucus. It is hardly ideal to have a party with questionable motives, composed of questionable characters linked to state capture and corruption, as the official opposition in parliament to begin with.

Despite MK chief whip John Hlophe’s lofty speeches in parliament, his party’s existence and, by extension, its presence in parliament is revenge and retribution against the ANC in general and President Cyril Ramaphosa in particular. There appears to be little desire to perform the crucial role of official opposition in the manner in which the constitution envisions.

With this party now in an internecine war with the EFF, the opposition dynamics in parliament could take a further turn for the worse.