ANC Youth League (ANCYL) President Collen Malatji, has weighed on the resignation of Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) member Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi from Parliament, suggesting that the party should just “close shop” and join the ANC.
“I have already started the work. I have said it in public. It’s not new. We have invited the EFF to close shop and come home so that we can unite everyone behind a national democratic revolution,” he said.
Malatji’s remarks came in response to Ndlozi’s “voluntary” resignation as a Member of Parliament (MP).
He made the remarks while addressing the media on the sidelines of the annual Progressive Business Forum event, hosted at the Rondebosch Golf Club, in the Western Cape.
The function was aimed at raising funds for the party's annual January 8 Statement event, as part of its 113th anniversary celebration on January 11.
When asked whether he had personally reached out to Ndlozi to join the ANC, Malatji said: “I’ve called him already".
Malatji’s comment elicited a lighthearted response from ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa, who said: “His equal-age colleague has called him already, so that’s enough".
Ndlozi’s resignation from Parliament follows weeks of speculation regarding his future in the EFF, following reports of a strained relationship with the party leader, Julius Malema.
Reports suggest that Ndlozi's potential exit was prompted by the growing tensions within the party, including his recent exclusion from last year’s elective conference, dubbed the National People’s Assembly (NPA).
Ndlozi’s departure from Parliament, comes as the party is grappling with a wave of resignations of key members, including that of longtime friend and ally former deputy president Floyd Shivambu, who defected to Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MKP) party.
Ndlozi has been a prominent advocate for economic justice and social change, especially among younger EFF supporters, who have rallied around his vision for the party.
The EFF announced on Thursday, that both Ndlozi and fellow MP Yazini Tetyana had requested to be released from their parliamentary duties, marking the end of an era for the pair, who have been key representatives for the party in the National Assembly since its inception in 2013.
"The EFF has received the voluntary resignation of Fighter Yazini Tetyana and Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi as representatives of the EFF in the Parliament of South Africa," the party’s national spokesperson Leigh-Ann Mathys said.
"The EFF has accepted the respective voluntary requests to be released from deployment of the two fighters.”
According to Mathys, the two have been exemplary in their deployments and acted as commendable public representatives.
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