The Economic Freedom Fighters has suspended its Mpumalanga secretary after he refused to pay the mandatory party levy to help sustain the EFF, party leader Julius Malema said on Monday.
Malema lambasted party officials who refused to pay the EFF levy and said further action would be taken against them. Mpumalanga’s Alfred Skosana was suspended after he went to the bank to reverse the levy back to his account after it was deducted, he said.
“The party levy helps the EFF to ensure that the party is not captured by council, it sustains itself through the party levy. If you allow the party to be financed by private donors and not its members, then you’re selling the party to the highest bidder…that is why we are very strict with paying [the] levy,†Malema told reporters in Johannesburg after the EFF central command team meeting.
“All of us who are members of councils, legislatures and Parliament pay the levy. The party deducts not less than 15 percent from salaries. There are members who have refused to pay their dues and yet live lavish lifestyles. We are going to deal decisively with those who are refusing to pay the levy because that is effectively stealing from the party.â€
The levies collected were used to repay monies borrowed by the party, which demonstrated that the EFF was not funded by anyone except its members, said Malema.
“Our party is supported and financed by its own members, especially those deployed as MPs and [at] councils and legislatures. There is a narrative that we are funded by people in London and the USA, why would we take our salaries and finance the EFF if there was too much money from London? There is no such a thing.â€
Malema said the names of the party officials who have not complied with the instruction to pay the levy would be released this week as well as the amounts they owed.
– African News Agency (ANA)
