Social media reacts to Naledi Chirwa’s demotion to bottom of EFF list

Naledi Chirwa tweeted a few times on Tuesday but may not have noticed that she had been trending during the day. If she did, she perhaps chose to ignore the issue and hope it would pass over.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) candidate list has been made public, and the current member of Parliament was demoted from 40 in the last national candidate list to 200 on this occasion—the bottom of the pile. This means it is unlikely she will keep her seat in Parliament.

Chirwa is also only 47 on the Gauteng candidate list.

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Unsurprisingly, party leader Julius Malema is first on the list, with Ntombovuyo Veronica Nkuna second and deputy president Floyd Shivambu third.

This political benching is surely due to her skipping the Budget Speech in February (attendance is a parliamentary duty) and not providing a reason for her absence at the time. This led to a fine and resulted in her issuing a public apology on social media.

“I am regretful for failing to attend Parliament. My four-month-old daughter was sick and so I went home. My daughter is currently with my mother until post-election. This is to allow me the opportunity to be completely engaged in organisational work during this period and to form part of the collective that will usher [in] an EFF government post May 29,” said the MP.

Chirwa said she should have reported her absence to the designated whip in their caucus in Parliament rather than to the organisation.

Social media is unforgiving

Tuesday saw numerous scathing posts on X, with few users expressing sympathy for Chirwa’s change of political fortune. Some even suggested this was a clever way of firing Chirwa.

“Dali Mpofu and mediocre lawyer Goodrich Gardee are number 11 and number 7, respectively,” tweeted Constitution First.

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“Jimmy Manyi will not make it as well at 41. EFF is unlikely to get 40 seats after May 29. The wind is consolidating power. Ringo is singing his lungs out at 11. Carl Niehaus at 27.”

The user suggested that South Africans object to “many people to ensure that Naledi Chirwa makes it to number 30”.

Moses.M.Ramafalo tweeted that Chirwa would have to “buy gazebos with her last salary”.

While another user replied, “Imagine buying a gazebo with ur last salary only to be removed.”

Sithale tweeted that for Chirwa to retain her seat in Parliament, the EFF would have to win over 40% of the elections.

Additional reporting by Enkosi Selane