READ | Shivambu's resignation letter to Malema

JOHANNESBURG - Floyd Shivambu has left the EFF to join Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto weSizwe Party.

Shivambu dropped the bombshell at a media briefing earlier on Thursday.

In his resignation letter to EFF president Julius Malema, Shivambu pleaded with Malema to avoid any "slander and mischaracterisation".

Shivambu has served as the party's deputy president since its inception in 2013. 

Here's Shivambu's full resignation letter: