By now, you’ve already heard the news: The uMkhonto weSizwe Party has redeployed Floyd Shivambu from party Secretary General to… well… just an ordinary MK Party member of parliament (MP). With a starting salary of around R100,000 for MPs, we all wish we had this kind of demotion! 

Back to Shivambu. He was ousted from his position because of a trip he took over Easter in April to visit fugitive pastor Shepherd Bushiri’s Enlightened Christian Gathering Church in Malawi. 

The visit was met with outrage, and Shivambu, even as late as last week, had refused to apologise for the trip, saying the trip had been sanctioned by MK Party president, Jacob Zuma.  

In a statement released on X, the party said Shivambu’s visit had been against “the spirit and prescripts of the MK Party constitution.” Yikes. The party said the trip had gone against section 3 (J) of ‘Offences’ in their constitution, which states: “Undertaking international trips and participating in activities or programmes that are opposed to the agenda of the MK Party or an allied party.”

Shivambu has gracefully accepted his demotion, saying he fully accepted the decision as a “disciplined member of uMkhonto Wesizwe.”

How have his (former) friends reacted? 

His former friend, president of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Julius Malema, spicily shared a tweet from the SABC covering the press conference where the news of Shivambu’s demotion was shared.

While visiting the family of Tsotsi actor Presley Chweneyagae to offer his condolences on Wednesday in Pretoria, Malema said that he didn’t want to get involved in Shivambu’s redeployment. “We are in parliament, we are working in parliament, and that’s it. If he comes to parliament, he will find us rolling,” he said.

The two co-founded the EFF, but famously fell out when Shivambu left the EFF for the MK Party in August 2024. 

Zuma said that Shivambu’s removal was partly made to show respect to the party’s voters. “We have taken that decision and there’s nothing wrong, we were just saying this is what was supposed to be. We also looked at what this has done to our rules.”

The MKP has a history of internal beef

Shivambu’s tenure as the party’s secretary general wasn’t without drama. In fact, some from within the party have been gunning for him since day one. Notable among these, of course, is Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, who in February openly attacked Shivambu on X, calling him “the worst thing that happened to MK”, “useless”, and a “Mafikizolo”, which translates to “newcomer” in isiZulu. She was forced to apologise or face being kicked out of the party, so she offered two apologies – one for bringing the party into disrepute and one to Shivambu personally. 

Power squabbles are nothing new in the MK Party, and Shivambu isn’t the only one feeling the pinch. At the end of May, MK Party Chief Whip and political harlot, Mzwanele Manyi, was axed from his position and replaced with former Congress of the People member, Colleen Makhubhele. The move to remove Manyi was seen as inevitable as he had been at odds with the party deputy president and parliamentary leader, disgraced former Cape Judge President, John Hlophe. So contentious was their relationship that it even allegedly came to blows. 

As Shivambu heads back to parliament, should we expect fireworks? Unlikely. Until the MK Party sorts out its internal battles, it remains divided even in parliament. Who knows what will happen next but rest assured, the days of Shivambu disrupting parliamentary proceedings like he did with the EFF are long gone. 

tshego@explain.co.za |  + posts

Tshego is a writer and law student from Pretoria. A keen follower of social media trends, his interests include high fantasy media, politics, science, talk radio, reading and listening to music.

He is also probably one of the only people left who still play Pokemon Go.