The EFF is anticipated to have a reorganized leadership in KwaZulu-Natal by the end of the week as part of reviving and reshaping the party in preparation for the local government election in the following year. This was revealed by a senior party leader who said the decision has already been taken by the central command team (CCT).

The party leader said the decision was necessitated by a string of by-election losses which the leader described as the worst performance in the 12 year-history of the party in the province, adding that the internal process has already started to assess the members that would serve in the interim structure. He said initially, the CCT wanted to disband the entire provincial leadership under Mongezi Thwala and Nkululeko Ngubane as chairperson and secretary respectively, however, it opted for a reconfiguration for the sake of unity so that the party will kick off its local government elections campaign in a united manner.

“Things are falling apart in our movement and urgent action has been long overdue. We need a change of leadership because it has become clear that the current leadership is failing. The best way to determine whether or not you are a good leader is to win or lose elections. The central command team had to step in because the current leadership appeared to lack public appeal, the leader stated. Although the EFF did fairly well in 2021, getting representation in almost all municipalities, it failed to win a single ward in KwaZulu-Natal. Since 2021 the party has not managed to win a single by-election and instead has been performing dismally. In the recent by-election in Mandeni Local Municipality’s ward 18, the party only garnered 20 votes and in one voting station, it received one vote.

The party received 26 votes in the same ward at the general election the year before, while in 2021 it received 145. The figures show that support for the party has been gradually declining. From the two seats it won in the 2014 general election, the EFF was able to win eight seats in the provincial legislature in the 2019 general elections. Chris Msibi, the party's provincial communications officer, confirmed that the national leadership has expressed concern about the party's poor performance in by-elections since 2021. However, Msibi refused to get involved in the discussion of reconfiguration, stating that the party would take internal action against the provincial leadership.