Mzwanele Manyi has resigned from the African Transformation Movement (ATM) and joined the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) ahead of next year's national elections.

Speaking to News24 on Friday morning, Manyi said he had not reached the decision easily, but believed he could serve South Africa better as a member of the EFF. 

"After careful thought and consideration, I have decided that I can serve South Africa better in an organisation like the EFF. The EFF is the third largest party in South Africa and is well posed to take over from the ANC quicker than any other party," he said.

"I have not come to this decision lightly, and I have to hasten to say that I am leaving the ATM peacefully without fighting with anyone."

EFF leader Julius Malema took to Twitter to welcome Manyi to the party. 

"On behalf of our ground forces, I want to take this opportunity to welcome fighter Mzwanele Manyi to his political home. We are honoured to have you as part of our family; remember, we are one people of the African continent," he said.

"Your credentials speak volumes, and we are more than confident that you will make a massive contribution to the success of the struggle for economic freedom in our lifetime," Malema added.

As recently as 2017, the EFF was at the forefront of calls for South Africans to boycott the ANN7 news channel and The New Age newspaper following their sale to Manyi, who was a former government spokesperson.

Manyi was continuing with "the business of fake news and reporting", the EFF said in a statement at the time. 

Malema at the time said: "[There]… is nothing 'media transformation' about this deal; to call it this is like thinking the apartheid's creation of Bantustans was a progressive liberation move for black people. Like Bantustan leaders, Manyi is a stooge representing the entrenchment of Gupta corruption in our county."

But relations have since improved between the EFF and Manyi, as he participated in the party's recent national shutdown. 

Manyi's résumé includes being the post-Gupta owner of The New Age and ANN7, heading the Government Communication Information System (GCIS), Black Management Forum president, and Progressive Professionals Forum president.

Explaining why he was joining the EFF, Manyi said, "South Africa did not have another 100 years to nurse the governing ANC that subscribes to neo-liberalism."

He added that, with the EFF at the helm, the country would finally become a sovereign nation as envisaged in the Constitution. 

Manyi cited what he described as various successful campaigns by the EFF, including the march to Eskom in February 2020, the national shutdown in March 2023, as well as their ongoing clean-up campaigns.

"These strides by the EFF found resonance with my personal convictions on what needs to be done in South Africa," he said. 

Manyi abandoned the ANC just before the 2019 national elections. At the time, he described the party as fatigued, captured, and having overstayed its welcome. 

"Under its leadership, black executives have met their demise while the media has lost its diversity," he said during a press briefing introducing him as the ATM’s national executive committee member in charge of the party’s policy and strategy division.

The ANC was Manyi's political home for about 30 years, and he has spent almost four years as a leader of the ATM, during which time he also served as the spokesperson of the Jacob Zuma Foundation, a position he still holds. 

Manyi did not want to speak about whether his role as the spokesperson of the former president's foundation would affect his EFF membership.