EFF leader Julius Malema has launched a scathing attack on former party deputy and spokesperson Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi after he admitted that he did not vote in the 2026 Local Government Elections.
Speaking at the National Results Operations Centre in Midrand on Saturday, as vote counting neared completion, Malema questioned Ndlozi’s decision to stay away from the polls, describing it as a display of what he called “exaggerated self-importance”.
“You’ll never leave the EFF and sound normal. How do you not vote and you think it’s normal, your exaggerated self-importance?” Malema said.
Ndlozi made the admission during an appearance on SABC1’s Daily Thetha, where he expressed disappointment over what he described as divisions among black South Africans and the fragmentation of the black vote.
“I am very unhappy with the conduct of black people in South Africa. I don’t understand why we have accepted being so itemised. We won’t achieve everything. The amount of division… You can’t act if you are divided,” Ndlozi said.
He argued that political parties contesting the elections were primarily concerned with their own interests and said the fragmentation of the black vote had left him questioning the value of participating.
Malema was particularly critical of Ndlozi’s revelation that he had discussed his decision not to vote with former president Thabo Mbeki, whom he currently works with at the Thabo Mbeki Foundation.
“How do you even tell Thabo Mbeki that you are thinking of not voting and Mbeki does not respond to you and clarify that you are saying the most stupid thing ever?” Malema asked.
He further invoked Mbeki’s role in the liberation struggle, arguing that the former president and his family had made significant sacrifices to secure democratic voting rights for South Africans.
Malema described abstaining from voting as “abnormal” and “counter-revolutionary”, adding that he could not associate himself with people who chose not to participate in elections.
He also questioned how Ndlozi could consider himself politically informed while choosing not to exercise his democratic right to vote.
The EFF leader said he would continue voting for his party regardless of its electoral performance, even if he were the only voter.
The exchange comes as Malema reflects on the EFF’s performance in the 2026 Local Government Elections, where he conceded defeat and called for unity among left-wing political formations, including the ANC, MK Party and South African Communist Party (SACP), against the Democratic Alliance (DA).
Malema also criticised another former EFF leader, Floyd Shivambu, who now heads the Afrika Mayibuye Movement, after Shivambu questioned the party’s spending on music festivals and artists during its election campaign.
Ndlozi’s admission has sparked debate, with some questioning the decision by a former Member of Parliament not to vote, while others maintain that participation in elections remains a personal choice.
The disagreement highlights continuing tensions among former and current EFF leaders following the party’s latest electoral performance.