Afrika Mayibuye Movement leader Floyd Shivambu has dismissed the Economic Freedom Fighters’ leadership as “delusional,” saying his four-month-old party has already achieved milestones the EFF failed to reach in nearly a decade.
Speaking at a media briefing in Midrand on Wednesday, Shivambu said the movement’s rapid growth proves it is resonating with South Africans.
He said the Afrika Mayibuye Movement reached in four months the stage the EFF should have achieved in its eighth or ninth year.
Shivambu aims for the former party
The former EFF deputy president left the party in 2024 and briefly joined the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, which expelled him in June 2025.
He accused the EFF of losing its founding purpose. “The other one, the EFF, which we founded, is led by delusional people,” he said.
Shivambu argued that none of South Africa’s major parties currently represent genuine liberation politics.
“We exist to fill the vacuum of a liberation movement in South Africa, to provide clear and revolutionary liberation politics that prioritise the interests and aspirations of the people on the ground,” he said.
Party rejects claims it will fade
Shivambu dismissed suggestions that his movement will collapse.
“People on social media say this organisation is going to die. My opinion is that it’s here to stay and will bring total freedom and emancipation in South Africa,” he said.
Although he did not reveal membership numbers, Shivambu said the party has leadership structures in almost all provinces.
“Check the generational balance of our national leadership, provincial leaders, and the professionalism among our members. That applies across all regions and sub-regions,” he said.
He noted that the movement faced difficulties establishing sub-regions in only four parts of KwaZulu-Natal.
“In all other regions, including the ten zones of eThekwini, we’ve got leadership structures. We are not a fly-by-night organisation, we are grounded,” he said.
Shivambu said current councillors, mayors, and deputy mayors have joined the Afrika Mayibuye Movement.
“It’s not propaganda; it’s the reality that we are already giving guidance on governance in some municipalities,” he said.
