Letter to Mahlamba Ndlopfu: How the flighty have fallen as Shivambu slinks off for a duck

Daily Maverick

2 days ago

Ah, Chief Dwasaho! As twilight settles over Mahlamba Ndlopfu, one imagines you peering out at the political pitch beyond your manicured lawns.
My leader, the grand match of South African politics unfolds bizarrely. The latest wicket to tumble is that of Floyd Shivambu — once a fiery opening batsman of the so-called radical left — now sent back to the pavilion under clouds of disgrace. The crowd gasps as this former prodigy of the revolution is clean-bowled by fate.
In a game of high stakes and even higher rhetoric, Shivambu's fall from grace has been nothing short of a dramatic reverse swing, catching even seasoned political analysts off guard.
All things former: Floyd Shivambu's political innings
There was a time when Shivambu strutted on to the field with all the confidence of a star player destined for centuries. He made his debut as a loud voice in the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) — a young lion roaring alongside Julius Malema until both were exiled for insubordination in 2012.
Unfazed, Shivambu helped to found the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in 2013, donning the iconic red beret as its deputy president and commissar for policy and political education.
Those were heady days of revolution on the front foot: hurling firebrand slogans, envisioning nationalised mines and land expropriation without compensation, and rattling the establishment with every swing of their bats at the status quo.
But politics is a game of glorious uncertainties. By 2024, sensing a change in pitch, Shivambu switched teams mid-match. Less than a year ago, he dramatically walked away from the EFF and cast his lot with a new side, Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party.
He switched sides from Malema's youthful rebels to Zuma's ageing pseudo-revolutionaries, a move that left many political observers gobsmacked.
Overnight, Shivambu traded red overalls in Parliament for singing ' Umshini Wami ' under Zuma's wing. He proved that in politics, strange bedfellows are par for the course. He fancied himself at the crease as secretary-general of an outfit named after the ANC's old armed wing, humming liberation tunes and reviving comradeship and Struggle.
It was to be a new innings under the patronage of uBaba kaDuduzane — the wily old master bowler Zuma himself. Shivambu hoped to prove his revolutionary fire still burned outside the EFF's stadium. For Malema and the EFF, this defection was the ultimate betrayal — the Red Beret turned his coat mid-tournament.
Shivambu's misstep
Alas, my leader, Shivambu's latest innings was cut short. In a dramatic middle-order collapse, MK's self-anointed captain, Zuma, axed Shivambu as MK party secretary-general this week.
The official reason? A reckless shot outside the crease: a secret trip to Malawi to meet fugitive preacher Shepherd 'Profit' Bushiri. Shivambu made the move without so much as a nod to Captain Zuma. That misstep swung the pendulum against the rising uBaba star.
He had fancied himself ready for the next Cricket World Cup — better known as the 2026 local government elections. The party regarded this as a grievous breach of discipline and image — a self-inflicted hit-wicket moment.
As any cricket captain would, Zuma seized the chance to shuffle his batting order and perhaps please his daughter, 'Commander' Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, who had already voiced her displeasure. Shivambu is now reduced to a run-of-the-mill member of Parliament. How the minors have fallen!
From star batsman to ice boy
It's a humbling demotion — from star batsman to ice boy — for a man who once styled himself as a political heavyweight, an incarnation of Karl Marx. He trudges off with zero runs to his name in this short-lived innings — a proverbial golden duck on debut as SG.
Shivambu was the party's unelected fifth secretary-general since its launch in 2023. The MK party treats its SGs like disposable wicketkeepers, swapping them out at the slightest fumble. In truth, the writing was on the wall before the umpire's finger went up. Duduzile had drawn the dagger first, and other MK cadres had long been dissatisfied with Shivambu's style of play.
He was accused of trying to pad the team with his former EFF players and 'running the party his way' — a cardinal sin in a collective where ironically, Zuma is head coach and captain.
Tensions reached a boiling point as even Shivambu's ally Mzwanele Manyi was dismissed as chief whip, and factions formed faster than a spinning ball on a cracked pitch. The once-celebrated recruit from the EFF found himself isolated on the crease, with no partners left to guard the other end.
Ball-tampering scandal: The VBS overspill
No account of Shivambu's career can ignore the VBS Mutual Bank scandal, that lingering shadow on his record. Think of it as a ball-tampering controversy that has doctored the swing of his political trajectory.
Years ago, when VBS Bank was brazenly looted, it was alleged that Shivambu (via his brother) and his comrades in the EFF benefited illicitly from the spoils. The scandal, still echoing through inquiries and headlines, has been an albatross around his neck — a scuff on the ball of his revolutionary credentials.
Some commentators didn't mince their words, declaring that Julius Malema and Floyd 'Fraud' Shivambu 'robbed a bank' and are destined for orange overalls behind bars.
Pay back the money
In October 2023, Parliament's Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests found Shivambu guilty of breaching the Code of Ethical Conduct by failing to disclose R180,000 received in 2017 from his brother's company, Sgameka Projects, which was implicated in the VBS Mutual Bank scandal.
As a result, the National Assembly imposed a sanction, docking nine days' salary from Shivambu. Thus, the whiff of VBS corruption clings to him like the odour of a tampered cricket ball, raising eyebrows every time he steps up to the political crease. It is the unspoken sledging from the opposition benches: 'Pay back the money!'
Songs of the revolution — a lament for lost comradeship
My leader, one can almost hear the haunting strains of ANC Struggle songs in the background as this saga unfolds. Once upon a time, men like Shivambu and his compatriots sang of unity and sacrifice — ' Senzeni na?' (What have we done?) when times grew dark, or ' Thina sizwe esimnyama ' as they vowed to overcome oppression. In those days, 'comrade' was a badge of honour, not a casual greeting.
Elegy for fraud
But today, our revolutionary anthems turn into elegies for a brotherhood betrayed. Shivambu's odyssey — from the young lion of Luthuli House to red-beret crusader of Winnie Madikizela Mandela House, to outcast in an outfit named for the Spear of the Nation — feels like a remix of the great Struggle songbook, but with jarring off-key notes.
Do you recall the haunting refrain ' Hamba kahle, Mkhonto ' — Go well, Spear of the Nation — sung in honour of departing freedom fighters? Today it might as well be directed at Shivambu as he exits the stage, a fallen cadre carrying a sack of 'formers' on his backpack: former Youth League firebrand, former EFF deputy commander, former Red Beret founding member, former policy commissar, and now, former MK Party secretary-general.
All things are former indeed.
Dimmed lights, Trump style
My leader, the stadium lights have dimmed on Floyd's revolutionary dreams, at least for now. Yet, hope springs eternal on the cricket pitch and in politricks. Even as he licks his open wounds on the sidelines, Shivambu might dream of a comeback in the next innings. Politics, after all, is a timeless Test match — fortunes can reverse with the swing of a single delivery.
But for now, from your vantage point, my leader, you can sip your adult beverages and chuckle at the spectacle of it all. Even Julius Malema, one suspects, is grinning from the stands at his erstwhile lieutenant's fate — proof that those who abandon the Red Berets often do so at their peril.
Is it cold outside the Winnie Mandela House? The enemy of your enemy has effectively bowled himself out. The once arrogant batsman has been caught out, stumped by his hubris and the guile of an older fox.
The revolution's choir now sings a cautionary dirge for Shivambu. The ANC must be quietly pleased, its thorn removed by friendly fire. As the opposition implodes, you can watch the flames from Luthuli House, smiling as their factional feuds do your work for you.
Till next week, my man. Send me to the Parliament winter Test matches. DM