In South Africa, former President Zuma’s new opposition party MK is falling apart again. The only consolation is that its left-wing rival EFF is also doing badly.
South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma Photo: Siphiwe Sibeko/reuters
JOHANNESBURG taz | Less than three months ago, South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma achieved a surprise victory: At the Parliamentary elections on 29 May His newly founded party Mkhonto We Sizwe (MK Party) – “Spear of the Nation”, the name of the former armed wing of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) – jumped straight into third place, with 14.6 percent of the vote and 58 of the 400 seats in parliament.
The ANC lost its absolute majority after thirty years in power and now governs in a coalition with the second largest party Democratic Alternative (DA) and a number of small parties, and MK is the largest opposition force in parliament.
But today Zuma creates the impression of a paranoid man who is running the MK as a dictatorship with the purely personal aim of exacting revenge on the ANC for his removal as party and head of state in 2017-18, his legal persecution since then and his expulsion from the party.
Last week, MK stripped 15 of its MPs of their seats and expelled them from the party. Parliamentary Speaker Moloto Mothapo confirmed this, meaning the 15 will lose their seats.
Even before the opening session of the newly elected parliament on June 25 – which MK boycotted under accusations of electoral fraud – the 15 were informed that they would be replaced, says MK party spokesman Nhlamulo Ndhlela. “They were instructed not to take the oath of office, or if they did, they would do so knowing that they would be replaced later,” says Ndhlela.
“Saboteurs” in our own ranks
MK says the MPs entered parliament irregularly. The party says its list of candidates submitted to the IEC electoral commission before the elections was compromised – by “saboteurs who filled the IEC system with their friends, relatives and neighbours”. This will not be tolerated, says Ndhlela: “As MK, we promised our people that we would have MPs who reflect society, and that is exactly what we intend and will do.”
It is not the first time. MK founder Jabulani Khumalo was expelled before the elections, as were MK politicians Rochelle Davidson, Ray Khumalo, Bheki Manzini and Lebo Moepeng. They were accused of working with “ANC forces”. Khumalo was said to have received money and cars from the ANC – he denies the allegations.
MK Secretary General Arthur Zwane has already been thrown out twice, and MK Treasurer Danisa Zulu has also been expelled.
It is entirely conceivable that the ANC will try to infiltrate MK. But Zuma’s party also has considerable self-destructive powers. It is the main opposition to the new South African coalition government, but it resembles a ticking time bomb.
Jacob Zuma has repeatedly clashed with his comrades in his political career. He has a long-standing personal enmity with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. The 82-year-old Zuma, a former freedom fighter with no school qualifications, never misses an opportunity to snipe at the 71-year-old Ramaphosa, a wealthy businessman and trained lawyer who replaced Zuma as ANC party leader in 2017 and as president in 2018.
“Msholozi”, as Zuma is popularly known, now apparently rules MK with an iron fist. His daughter Duduzile, also in MK, is one of the most controversial figures in South African politics. She is accused of playing a key role in fomenting the serious unrest of 2021, when violence rocked the country and over 300 people died in response to her father’s imprisonment for contempt of justice.
Julius Malema also loses allies
MK is now receiving unexpected support from a completely different side: the second largest opposition force, the left EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) is also in turmoil after slipping from 10.8 to 9.5 percent in the elections. Floyd Shivambu, deputy to EFF Commander-In-Chief Julius Malema, announced his resignation last week.
Initially, there was the prospect that Shivambu would challenge Malema at the next EFF party conference. Malema has essentially completely controlled the “Red Berets”, as the EFF activists call themselves, since the party was founded in 2013.
But then it emerged that Shivambu was defecting to MK, as was EFF leader Mzwanele Manyi, which is hardly surprising, as he is the spokesman for the Zuma Foundation. Other prominent EFF figures have left the party or are about to do so, Malema confirmed last Thursday.
“Many will leave because they are loyal to the Vice President (Shivambu),” said Malema. It is a “decisive moment” and a “test” for EFF, but the party must not be allowed to break up because of it.
In any case, the EFF crisis is a welcome respite for the struggling Zuma force. “uMkhonto weSizwe Party welcomes these wise and experienced leaders,” MK said. “It couldn’t have come at a better time.”
