Floyd Shivambu opens up about his ‘gangster-like relationship’ with Julius Malema
Floyd Shivambu has spoken about his relationship with EFF leader Julius Malema and the reasons behind their growing distance.
MK Party National Organiser Floyd Shivambu has shared insights into his current relationship with Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters.
The 41-year-old politician shocked many when he resigned from his position as deputy president of EFF. Shivambu and Malema co-founded the EFF back in 2013 after the latter was expelled from the ANC.
Speaking to Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh, Floyd touched on his current relationship with his former leader.
“It was a political relationship that we had. Of course, because we worked in the same spaces, we ended up doing so many things together, if there is a family gathering, we supported each other. The relationship was always politics, with no bad feelings,” he said.
Floyd Shivambu and Julius Malema no longer friends
“Sometimes this called brotherhood is not brotherhood, it borders on gangsterism relationships. If one person is wrong, you can’t call each other to order. You defend each other even if one is doing wrong things.”
Shivambu revealed that Malema was unaware that he was planning his exit.
“The majority of the leaders of the Economic Freedom Fighters knew that I was going to join the MK Party. Some came back to me and said ‘please don’t tell the president’ because the president did not know and I did not see the need to talk to him about it,” he said.
“Some of those leaders pretended to cry during the meeting pretending they did not know my resignation. It was a properly canvassed view, it was not a view that happened overnight.”
Shivambu said his decision to leave EFF and Malema was not personal but was more of a bold move.
“I think that uMkhonto weSizwe Party is the most important political party right in South Africa’s politics now and it needed to take the direction and shape it has taken now.”
“I had to take a bold, possibly a good decision to leave the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) which I played a central role in. It’s not a secret that I conceptualised the Economic Freedom Fighters, had the name, commander in chief, the seven cardinal pillars, the founding manifesto and all its key documents,” he said.