GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - Discussions around the former PBI president, Virgill Gericke joining the EFF with the promise of an EFF seat in Parliament, “has been coming for a long time”, says the PBI’s Alberto Marbi, deputy mayor of Knysna.
Marbi says the PBI’s deputy president, Roseline Tyler, like Gericke also from George, has stepped into Gericke’s shoes after he resigned from his party this week to join the EFF.
Not only was Gericke the Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners (PBI) leader, but also founded the party that took part in municipal elections for the first time in 2011.
But now Gericke has swapped his green and white PBI gear for a red beret and overalls.
“The PBI will continue its duties as normal. The position of president is currently filled by our vice president, Cde Roseline Tyler from George. The discussions for Virgill to go to a higher position where he can continue the fight for the marginalised have been coming for some time and as a party we respect his move. He will continue in his new role as a Member of Parliament,” Marbi told Knysna-Plett Herald.
He said the vacancy left by Gericke in the George Council will be filled soon while Jerome Peterson from the George Council will fill the vacant position in the Garden Route District Council where the PBI has two seats.
Marbi says for the PBI it is business as usual. “This will not affect the coalition in Knysna. As a party we stay committed in our fight for the most vulnerable and marginalised.”
In a statement issued by the Western Cape leadership of the EFF, they welcomed “fighter Gericke” and other members of the PBI into their ranks, but did not say who the “other members" are.
“Fighter Gericke is a strong advocate for change and his ideological orientation is rooted in the struggle for land and economic freedom in our lifetime.”
Clearly hoping to attract Gericke’s following in the PBI in order to increase the EFF’s rather small support base in George and the Garden Route, the party hails Gericke as “a fearless fighter who has dedicated his life to defending those who can neither speak nor defend themselves. His political vigour and vitality finds expression in the EFF.”
In the by-elections in George in July this year, the PBI failed to secure any of the three wards and demanded a recount from the IEC, but the request came to nothing.
On Thursday, talking to George Herald from Cape Town, Gericke referred all queries to the EFF leadership.
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