Zuma to make announcements on MK party developments

With the local government elections later this year, MK party leader and former president Jacob Zuma will share the party’s news ahead of the polls.

“H.E. President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma will be making announcements on the uMkhonto weSizwe party’s recent developments on Friday, 6 February, in Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal,” the party’s national spokesperson, Nhlamulo Ndhlela, said.

Musical chairs

The MK party has been in the spotlight recently, playing musical chairs with officials removed and replaced from key positions.

On Wednesday, the MK party announced that corruption-accused and former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe had resigned as a Member of Parliament (MP).

Ndhlela said Molefe formally resigned as an MP “in order to dedicate his full time and energy to his responsibilities as treasurer general of the MK party”.

ALSO READ: MK party likens Molefe, Gama’s arrests to Zuma’s legal battles

Zuma directive

Molefe was announced as the party’s new treasurer-general last month, replacing Mpiyakhe Limba.

Ndhlela said the decision followed a clear directive from Zuma, which “emphasises the strategic importance of strengthening organisational capacity, financial discipline and resource mobilisation as central pillars in advancing the mission of the movement”.

“His redeployment to focus on the critical task of building the financial sustainability of the party reflects the organisational principle that cadres must be placed where they are most effective in serving the people and advancing the struggle for economic liberation,” Ndhlela said.

MK party success

Last month, former president Thabo Mbeki stirred debate, claiming that the apartheid government’s national security management system (NSMS) was “activated” to deliver Zuma’s MK party’s electoral success to the detriment of the ANC.

Zuma’s party has seen phenomenal success as a result of “personality politics”.

According to a poll conducted on behalf of The Brenthurst Foundation in 2024, the MK party is the third-largest party in the country, with 15% in the polls, behind the ANC at 39% and the DA at 27%.

Apartheid-era

Mbeki alleged that elements of this disbanded apartheid-era NSMS were “activated” to influence the success of the MK party in the 2024 elections, raising concerns about the potential persistence of old security networks.

The MK party rejected Mbeki’s comments “as politically reckless, socially dangerous and intellectually dishonest”.

ALSO READ: Zuma and MK party to welcome new members in Gqeberha