AFCO: Former EFF members band together to form new political party [video]

The Sunnyside Hotel, in Johannesburg, hosted a media briefing held by former members of the EFF, where a new political party was unveiled: the African Federal Convention (AFCO).

What we know about the African Federal Convention (AFCO)

AFCO president, and former KwaZulu-Natal EFF leader, Vusi Mathe, opened the address by stating that the AFCO was born out of the frustrations of South Africans with the current political order.

Cladded in grass-green camo fatigue with matching berets, a look that bears similarities to that of the Red Berets, Mathe marked this day as the “dawn of a new beginning.”

WATCH: And African Federal Convention, AFCO President Vusi Mathe addresses the media as they launch the new party. #SABCNews pic.twitter.com/3px35lphh0

— Abongile Dumako (@AbongileDumako) August 14, 2019

Very little is known about AFCO’s leader. From the information we were able to source, Mathe served the EFF between 2014 and 2019.

Starting out at the bottom of the totem pole, Mathe went from being the 83rd candidate on the party’s election list in 2014 to become a Member of Parliament in the KZN legislature in a span of five years.

However, something — the details of which we suspect will surface soon — must have happened to prompt Mathe and fellow disgruntled Red Berets to break away from South Africa’s third-biggest political party.

What is AFCO’s political manifesto?

While the details around the political philosophy of AFCO are still sketchy, it appears that they have not steered too far off from the radicalism upheld by the EFF.

In the short media briefing, Mathe made it abundantly clear that AFCO’s purpose was to ensure that every South African got a piece of the country’s minerals.

“The powers must be decent rights to the people, as a federal [inaudible] philosophy, to ensure that national and mineral resources benefit all South Africans. We are rich in mineral resources in our country. Cyril Ramaphosa and Tokyo Segwale… they look us but they are not us,” Mathe exclaimed.

WATCH: AFCO President Vusi Mathe says mineral resources must be shared among all citizens of the country. #SABCNews pic.twitter.com/83XmwgrUpy

— Abongile Dumako (@AbongileDumako) August 14, 2019

As did the EFF, it is likely that AFCO’s target support group is the majority of South Africans who are poverty-stricken and unemployment, with a shared disdain of the ‘establishment’.

Malema reacts to EFF breakaway party

The message of the newly-formed political party reached the attention of EFF leader, Julius Malema. Probed about his days of serving the EFF, the AFCO leader stated that he was like the co-founder of the Red Berets.

WATCH: Babayi Vusi Mathe, the president of the African Federal Convention, AFCO says the @EFFSouthAfrica leadership knows him. He formed the EFF in 2013. #SABCNews pic.twitter.com/y49eP32whH

— Abongile Dumako (@AbongileDumako) August 14, 2019

Twitter users who were tuned in to the address quickly notified Malema who, in a classic and petty Malema fashion, broke out in laughter.

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— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) August 14, 2019