The uMkhonto we Sizwe Party (MK Party) has angered the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQIA+) community after an influencer marketed MK Party rainbow merchandise last Thursday. This is even though MK Party leader, former president Jacob Zuma, has repeatedly made anti-LGBT statements at party rallies.
The Influencer, Sabelo Sithole, known as Ntombeningi, advertised the merch on her social media platforms with a price list. “UMkhonto WeSizwe calls upon the LGBTIQ+ community🫣we now have our very own rainbow 🌈logo because we are special.. The first political party to say we matter,” she captioned the post.
This is surprising because Zuma, who is now the MK Party leader and is slated to appear on the ballot, has said troubling things about the country’s same-sex laws. “Who made the law that a man can date another man? Who will women be left with?” he asked as he addressed MK party supporters in Maqongqo near Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal in February.
MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndlela tried to explain this away (badly) on the State of The Nation YouTube channel by saying that it wasn’t Zuma’s stance but that he was asked by traditional leaders who found homosexuality “alien”. “One of the questions he was asked when he sat with traditional leaders, one of them said but this is alien to us. We’ve never had homosexuality in our culture. Where is this emanating from? President Zuma had to explain to them that you know we’re obviously living in a different realm of our lives. Now they want to see it as President Zuma’s position no it’s not necessarily President Zuma’s position he was just reflecting on some of the discussions had,” said Ndhlela.
Sithole, who appears to be a member of the party, said that they had confronted Zuma on his homophobia. She says that Zuma had apologised and told her that he also has a child who is a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. Speaking to News24, Sithole noted the community’s anger was hurting her brand. “This is the same community I went to defend in front of the MK Party to say we must also have a voice,” Sithole said.
One social media user said the community would be naive to support the party, calling the party a “homophobic party”. Another called Sithole a “traitor and baiter.” “You know exactly that MK doesn’t give a rat ass about you or the community. I guess bills are due, selling your soul to the highest bidder.” Another called Sithole out for claiming that the MK Party was the first to say the community matters. “MK is not the first political party to say we matter, ANC did, ATM did, EFF did, IFP did, fix that but all in all – their manifesto and action put will prove their intentions not just t-shirts.”
