Just over two months following its significant victory in the national elections, Jacob Zuma’s MK party is in disarray. Having missed out on joining the alliance built around Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC, the party is now in opposition and facing its first challenges.
The Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party notified Parliament last week of its intention to replace the eighteen Members of Parliament elected in May 2024 with new members. A party spokeswoman claimed that “saboteurs” had changed the original list of candidates. This decision was made one week after the MK Secretary-general lost his title as a result of the clean-up.
The disarray is an additional issue. Recently, regional delegates bemoaned in a letter to Jacob Zuma that executives have still not been chosen internally to assume leadership roles. They also bemoan the absence of dialogue during the decision-making process.
Overall, despite receiving a 45% vote in the regional ballot, the MK has so far failed to convert the May 2024 frenzy into a genuine win, with the KwaZulu-Natal region’s administration escaping it. And in June 2024, the party only prevailed in one of the twelve by-election seats for Council members.