Update 30 January 2024
It’s official: The African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Council has voted to suspend former president Jacob Zuma’s membership. In a statement, the ANC said that Zuma’s support of the newly formed uMkhonto we Sizwe Party (MK) was a move by anti-transformation forces to undermine the move towards a united, non-racial, democratic country. “The formation of the MK party is not an accident. It is a deliberate attempt to use the proud history of armed struggle against the apartheid regime to lend credibility to what is a blatantly counter-revolutionary agenda,” the statement read.
Zuma announced in December that he would campaign for the MK Party but remain an ANC member. He said he would not campaign for the “ANC of Ramaphosa”.
While in KwaZulu-Natal, religious and traditional leaders have threatened to “Shut South Africa down for good” should Zuma and the MK Party not achieve a two-thirds majority. At a rally held in KwaXimba near Durban over the weekend, a pastor whom the party named Vader Maluleke said that the people who were mocking and threatening Zuma should stop. “If the election doesn’t give uMkhonto we Sizwe a two-thirds majority, we are going to close South Africa for good,” Maluleke said. He warned the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) that they had “better do it the right way” or the party was coming for them.
25 January 2024
Former president Jacob Zuma’s endorsement of the newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe Party has the ANC shaking in parts of the country. Zuma, 81, has vowed to campaign for the party rather than a Cyril Ramaphosa-led African National Congress (ANC).
Officially registered in September, the MK Party’s name and logo are strikingly similar to those of the ANC’s now-disbanded paramilitary wing, uMkhonto we Sizwe. Established initially to combat the Apartheid government, it later transformed into the uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) from 1996 to 2022, representing the interests of those who engaged in the armed struggle against apartheid as MK members.
The ANC has reportedly taken the issue to the Electoral Court.
The ANC is currently deliberating on handling Zuma. Also involved in the fray is the controversial former ANC secretary general Ace Magashule. Magashule launched his political party, the African Congress for Transformation (ACT), in August 2023. Zuma and Magashule have reportedly joined forces.
The new party is proving popular with rural voters in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal and is targeting ANC strongholds.
Its main focus seems to be constitutional reform after it claimed that the constitution was “not reflective of the people” and heightened traditional leaders’ power, with Zuma saying that traditional leaders should be “treated like presidents”.
The party’s interim spokesperson, Nhlamulo Ndlela, said the party wouldn’t be bothered by its detractors. Ndlela said the party was too focused on elections and would not respond to insults. “We’ve been insulted ever since we were announced, and we are in the middle of a campaign trail, and that is what we’re focusing on,” Ndlela told Newzroom Afrika.
Zuma’s endorsement of the MK Party poses significant challenges for the ANC. The emergence of new political entities and shifts in allegiances highlight the evolving dynamics within South Africa’s political landscape. Even though the party is not expected to make waves at the polls, it is one to watch.
