Party hopper Lufuno Gogoro par excellence

Somewhat a connoisseur of breakaway parties from the ANC, Lufuno Gogoro has marked his fifth consecutive election campaign for yet another party.

This time, he thinks he has found a political home that will deliver the promises he says the ANC abandoned when he first broke away from the party.

Gogoro is running for mayor of Joburg through the Bolsheviks Party of SA (BPSA), a radical Marxist organisation
which takes its ideological inspiration from the Russian Revolution.

Although he does not agree with everything the party stands for, his value proposition is simple – he will take all
the promises other parties have failed to deliver on in Joburg and tick them off one by one.

Gogoro hails from the rural town of Njerere near Tzaneen in Limpopo. Until the age of 13, he lived in the village while his mother worked as a domestic worker in Little Falls, Roodepoort.

When his mother was finally able to acquire permanent housing in Soweto, he moved to Pimville where political activism woke him up to the realities of the world he lived in.

Though his heart is still heavily rooted in Limpopo where BPSA is based, he has a passion for uplifting the lives of the people of Johannesburg.

His short career as a local government election party hopper began much like many others – as a member of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) in 2007.

He claims to have been recruited by Gauteng ANC bigwig Paul Mashatile himself. He joined the “movement” quite late at the ripe age of 25.

Now 41 and seasoned in the politics of community activism, Gogoro doesn’t have any regrets and is running for mayor on his own terms.

During his ANCYL days, Gogoro boasts that he played a role in originating some of the radical policies, including land expropriation without compensation.

When then ANCYL president Julius Malema was expelled from the party in 2013, he was among the breakaway group which followed him to form the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

“I formed the EFF,” he boldly declares.

“I actually invited Julius to come and lead us and then, unfortunately, I realised he prioritised friends into positions. I was expelled for raising issues which were not right.”

Gogoro was part of the chorus of ANC youth who pushed for the nationalisation of mines, banks and other strategic economic sectors.

“My time with the youth league was the most exciting time of my life. Malema was one of those leaders that you could worship. So I don’t regret my time with the ANCYL.”

Despite professing a deep love for the EFF, Gogoro slams it for supposedly abandoning its original spirit of ethical leadership.

“I loved everything about the EFF. I contributed in terms of developing the seven cardinal pillars and everything else.

“I introduced the overall that you see them wearing.

“On 5 November, 2013, when we were marching against the e-tolls, I did a lot. We did a lot, unfortunately the leadership had decided something else.”

On to his second breakaway party, Gogoro joined Black First Land First.

He was emboldened and inspired, he says, by its leader, Andile Mngxitama. It was a short-lived affair and in 2016, he did campaign work for the Patriotic Alliance (PA), although he did not join the party as a member.

And when Dr Makhosi Khoza stepped down as an MP for the ANC, Gogoro claims he helped her form African Democratic Change (ADC).

He says he felt used by Khoza after he parted ways with the party.

“Actually, we formed ADC, but I realised later that she wanted to use us in case Cyril Ramaphosa loses at the ANC
elective conference at Nasrec, so that those who think they are clean and not corrupt could come and join,” he recalls.

He expresses his frustration at the fact that the organisation would no longer operate as a political party but a “feminist organisation”.

“When Cyril won, she said we cannot continue with the organisation as a party; let’s rather turn it into a feminist organisation.

“We didn’t see eye to eye. That is when I left.”

– simnikiweh@citizen.co.za