Mbuyiseni Ndlozi defends Cyril Ramaphosa, saying he is no white puppet

Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, who recently left the EFF, says President Cyril Ramaphosa is no puppet of white supremacy.

Ndlozi spoke to SABC News for the first time after being banned from attending the EFF’s elective conference in December, effectively losing his seat in the party’s central command team. After the conference, Ndlozi resigned from parliament and has now left the party and politics.

“I’m leaving party politics and will contribute to the academy. It’s time somebody did for the people what AfriForum is doing for the Afrikaners. That is the civil society space that one is having a conversation and thinking about,” Ndlozi said.

He grew up in left-wing circles where Ramaphosa would be seen as part of the “white capitalist establishment”. He said Ramaphosa becoming a billionaire further reinforced this view.

“Certainly part of that discourse is he will always [be] in the best interests of the white capitalist establishment. His emails in [the] Marikana [wildcat strike] did not help because he characterised workers as criminals, justifying the Marikana massacre, [and] the CR17 statements did not help”.

But now Ndlozi sees a shift in Ramaphosa’s actions: “Who would have thought? I wouldn’t have bet anything that one day it would be Ramaphosa who says ‘you keep your America and I will keep my South Africa’ to the most powerful man together with the richest man in the world in defence of nil compensation.”

Last week Ramaphosa told global critics South Africa would not be bullied.

Ndlozi argued that the Expropriation Act alone was not enough to define Ramaphosa’s stance. “There’s the Palestinian matter — Ramaphosa’s government did not just condemn the Gaza bombardment by Israel; it stated Israel is a genocidal state and took them to The Hague. No white puppet acts like that, coupled with the Bela [Basic Education Laws Amendment] Bill, the NHI [National Health Insurance] and all these policies have disrupted [the] domestic and global white capitalist establishment.”

Ndlozi also told the SABC he was leaving the EFF and politics. This comes months after speculation about his fallout with party leader Julius Malema. Ndlozi expressed his desire to contribute to academia, leveraging on his educational background.

“I have taken a decision to step away from party politics,” he said. “I have left the EFF. I have left party politics. I have handed over my resignation as a member and it is because where I want to go and contribute, I can't hold a single party membership.” In January the EFF announced Ndlozi had resigned from parliament.

“I’m passionate about the upliftment of the levels of discourse in the country but most importantly I think the terrain of struggle that has been neglected over the years is the civil society space. I’m interested in it because it is where you are able to cultivate and agitate the notions of freedom, where liberation is about the people, community development, research, advocacy. “It’s time somebody did for the people of this country what AfriForum is doing for the Afrikaners.”

Ndlozi’s resignation from the EFF follows that of prominent members, including former deputy leader Floyd Shivambu, who left last year to join Jacob Zuma's MK party. Ndlozi confirmed he was suspended after he was charged by the EFF on allegations of being part of the MK party’s infiltration strategy and not informing the leadership about Shivambu’s intention to leave the party. He said the suspension was unconventional in that it didn't rely on the code of conduct of the EFF.

“I was told to stay at home, cease my participation in parliament and the rest of the activities of the EFF. It was important for me because they said the investigation was still ongoing and when the investigation was finished I would be given an opportunity to respond to the allegations. “I think we can agree these are dangerous and serious allegations. Later, the leadership argued the report would only be ready after conference and the matter has been referred to the leadership after the conference. It seemed fair for me to wait to clear my name so I did not function with a dark cloud over my head or a gun in my face.”

He made it clear he never intended to join Zuma’s party. “I never planned to join the MK party, I still don’t. I never worked with anybody in the MK party in relation to some conspiracy about my departure. Whatever information they say they have was based largely on lies.”

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