Nyiko Floyd Shivambu’s resignation letter from the EFF to join MK Party is an interesting and instructive communication example that should inform political leaders who find themselves in similar circumstances, but who — because they are unable to communicate their resignation meaningfully — end up with a hell of a circus in their hands.
Shivambu’s resignation letter does not invite idle
speculation, exaggeration or misinterpretation, he spells out in clear terms
what he is resigning from, why he is resigning, where he is going and in what
capacity. Importantly, he takes full responsibility for his resignation or
action, with no hint of pointing a finger at anyone or blaming anyone. Notably,
Shivambu’s resignation letter is not personalised; it is ideologically grounded
and ideologically purposeful.
The following two lines in Shivambu's letter are notable:
“My non renewal of membership of the EFF is not a vote of
no confidence in the organisation, but a revolutionary act that will allow
Progressive Forces to unite and work towards the agenda for progressive and
revolutionary change”.
COMMENT:
This makes clear that he is not resigning or running away
from the collective cause, but is taking a step to move the fight or struggle
for the cause to another level, to maximise the possibility of its success.
2. "I firmly believe that political decisions should
never be personalized and treated as betray of the cause and of
individuals."
COMMENT:
This is an important take, which is often missed or
misunderstood by political upstarts: that politics is not personal; rather it
is interpersonal, and thus interactive; politics cannot be personal, anything
that is personalised is ipso facto depoliticised; and therefore becomes
something else which is not politics. He was writing on X.
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