“Go Argue With the Wall”: Mbuyiseni Ndlozi Takes a Swipe at Julius Malema Over Voting Decision

• Mbuyiseni Ndlozi hit back at EFF leader Julius Malema after Malema publicly criticised his decision not to vote in the 2026 Local Government Elections
• Ndlozi defended his choice as a conscientious abstention, arguing the Constitution protects the right to abstain from voting
• The former EFF MP turned the tables on Malema by questioning the party's declining vote share and what the leader had done to prevent it

SOUTH AFRICA - Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, the former Economic Freedom Fighters MP, struck back at party leader Julius Malema after Malema used a post-election media briefing to take aim at his decision to stay home on voting day during the 2026 Local Government Elections.

Malema reportedly labelled Ndlozi's choice to abstain as abnormal and counter-revolutionary, suggesting that people who leave the EFF will never quite sound normal again. Ndlozi was not about to let that go unanswered.

Turning to social media, Ndlozi shifted the focus squarely onto the EFF's election performance, pointing to the party's declining numbers as the real issue Malema should be explaining.

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"In the end, the writing is on the wall — properly displayed in percentages," Ndlozi wrote.

He did this by questioning why the EFF had shed nearly half its vote share and asking what Malema himself had done to produce that result.

He closed with a pointed directive:

"go argue with the wall."

Ndlozi defends abstention as a constitutional right

Ndlozi described his decision as a deliberate act he called a "conscientious abstention," arguing that the right to abstain from voting was not confined to Parliament or council chambers but extended to elections and was protected by the Constitution.

He made the case that registered voters who chose not to participate were often making a deliberate political statement, refusing to pick between what he called different versions of failure.

"Voting MUST NEVER be a conscription," he said.

He also argued that political parties were not automatically owed anyone's vote and that support, like respect, had to be earned.

See Ndlozi's X post here:

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Anti-apartheid stalwarts drawn into the debate

Ndlozi further defended spoiling a ballot or staying away from polls as legitimate forms of protest, invoking anti-apartheid figures Ronnie Kasrils and Barney Pityana, who called on South Africans to spoil their ballots during the 2014 elections.

He argued that their stance proved no party, regardless of its liberation credentials or leadership, could claim an automatic right to votes.

South Africans weighed in on the exchange:

@AldrinSampear:

"No my brother. The constitution itself is a product of a political process derived from voting."

@Lord_Ori_:

"Said a lot of valid points up there. In contrast, you were a Member of Parliament for 10 years by the same votes you are abstaining to give now 😂😭"

@T2muchTohandle:

"I still maintain respect because you have earned it, but depoliticising youth is wrong from all the corners."

@Ndlombango:

"Over to you Julius, we have the whole day mfo. 😂"

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@FredBrito10:

"Lol you made me proud by this post Ndlozi, those days of bullied are over...Stand your ground!"

Naledi Chirwa criticises Ndlozi

Briefly News also reported that EFF MP Naledi Chirwa accused Mbuyiseni Ndlozi of allowing personal grievances to undermine the broader struggle for economic justice. She argued that his parliamentary career and public profile were built on the sacrifices of South Africans who stood in queues to cast their ballots. In her view, encouraging non-participation in elections amounts to a betrayal of the democratic gains won through collective struggle.

Source: Briefly News