Fees Must Fall Activist and 2021 July Unrest accused Bonginkosi Khanyile has threatened to shut down elections if Jacob Zuma isn’t allowed to run. The political flip-flopper (he has been a member of the Economic Freedom Fighters and the Patriotic Alliance) is now a member of the uMkhonto Wesizwe Party (MKP) and has been on record making some shocking statements.
Khanyile, now the MKP‘s youth league president, has threatened “to declare war” if the IEC removes former president Jacob Zuma or the party from the ballot. “If they remove the MKP and President Zuma from the ballot as the face of the campaign and try to take our rights, there won’t be elections in South Africa,” he said. This is after the Independent Elections Commission (IEC) said that Zuma was not eligible to register as a candidate for elections. According to the IEC, this is on the basis of Section 47 of the South African Constitution, which says that an individual cannot be elected to Parliament if you have been convicted of a crime and sentenced to 12 months or more in prison. You’re only eligible to run again after five years. Zuma, if you’ll remember, refused to cooperate with the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, which led to his conviction for contempt of court in July 2021, resulting in a 15-month prison sentence. Despite serving less than two months in jail, the length of the sentence remains significant.
That isn’t all Khanyile had to say, though. On a recent episode of DJ Sbu’s Hustlers Corner SA podcast, Khanyile went after Springbok Captain Siya Kolisi. “You can’t be a Black person and have a hero like Siya Kolisi who doesn’t represent anything that has to do with a Black person,” said Khanyile. He said Kolisi represented everything that has to do with black oppression. We’re not sure why poor Siya was singled out. Not even DJ Sbu was sure. 😒
President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that those who threaten violence will be punished. “I just want to make it clear to anyone who is threatening any form of unrest that there will be follow-up, and they will be arrested,” Ramaphosa said following MKP member Visvin Reddy’s threats that no one would be allowed to vote if the party didn’t appear on the ballot papers.
The public has called for authorities to “rein Khanyile in.”
What do you think of Khanyile’s utterances? Let us know!
