An ominous Facebook post from an EFF member in Nelson Mandela Bay on Friday morning has raised eyebrows in the city following a week of violence during which at least four Integrated Development Plan (IDP) meetings were disrupted in the city.
The most serious was on Thursday night, with reports of gunshots, petrol bombs and burning tyres at the Colchester Community Hall.
The violence is believed to be linked to opposition parties’ frustration at their failure to unseat mayor Athol Trollip as punishment from the EFF for the DA’s opposition in parliament to land expropriation without compensation.
They are also upset that the Patriotic Alliance (PA) switched sides and went into coalition with the DA, Cope and ACDP in the city, dimming hopes of removing Trollip until 2021.
In her post, EFF member Bonnie Lanke said that the EFF would do to the city’s IDP meetings what the “DA is doing to people who are occupying the land”. She also voiced a rejection of the DA in isiXhosa.
The EFF believes that black people should occupy unused land throughout South Africa, which is currently illegal. EFF leader Julius Malema is facing a court case relating to his call to his followers to occupy all vacant land. He is challenging the constitutionality of the charges against him, which are based on the Riotous Assemblies Act.
Earlier this week, the EFF vowed to do everything in its power to ensure that Trollip does not complete his term.
The party’s councillor Zilindile Vena vowed that even though plans to unseat Trollip through a no-confidence vote have fallen through, they will not stop until he is gone.
During a second no-confidence vote against Trollip on Tuesday, which dragged on for eight hours, chaotic scenes played out as the ANC and EFF refused to allow DA councillor Nqaba Bhanga to pay tribute to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.