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The implosion of the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) of South Africa’s disruptive former president Jacob Zuma has added more drama to the battle for KwaZulu-Natal in the forthcoming national elections on 29 May.
The party, which until recently was seen as a major disrupter in KwaZulu-Natal and even the national political landscape, is currently unravelling.
Following his ousting, the party founder, Jabulani Khumalo, called for the Independent Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) to remove Zuma as the party leader and requested the IEC remove him from the party's parliamentary list.Khumalo was ousted alongside four other MKP members for allegedly being ‘rogue elements,’ with Zuma accusing Khumalo of being an ANC spy.
READ: Zuma's Umkhonto weSizwe Party 'forged’ signatures to meet IEC threshold
Speaking to City Press about these developments, political analyst Dr Dale McKinley said the turmoil would have people second-guessing giving the party their vote in the upcoming elections.
“It all depends on how this plays itself out in the next, let's say, two weeks. If it continues to roll and remains a news story, then I think it'll do further damage [to MKP].”
McKinley said:
"I think the issue is whether or not the ANC, the IFP, in particular, and the EFF to some extent, although it seems to be closer with MKP, can take advantage of this. To say to the electorate that this is exactly how the government will be if MKP gets in, it's going to be unstable. It's going to be all around the personality of Zuma," he said.
READ: Julius Malema courts Jacob Zuma, and criticises Mandela
DISCIPLINE IS KEY
Another political analyst, Levy Ndou, said with elections so close, parties should focus on their own campaign and let the MKP do damage to themselves.
"With elections this close, parties need discipline. They need to be galvanising support to ensure that they get sufficient votes. They could easily just say, 'Look you [Zuma] stole the logo, now you are taking the party from someone else,' but that would just take away from their campaign," Ndou said.
The IEC has already stated that it won’t be getting involved in the power struggle between Khumalo and Zuma, saying: “The commission only acts on instructions from the registered leader of the party. In the present case, Zuma is the registered leader of the MK Party, and this has been so since 10 April 2024."
READ: IEC says it won't get involved in MKP power struggle, recognises Zuma as registered party leader
McKinley said even if Khumalo managed to get Zuma somehow ousted, the party would be left scrambling.
“It would be seriously damaged, obviously, even though the probability is that Zuma’s crew, acolytes, and allies would probably be able to retain control over the Khumalo faction, which seems to be fairly weak,” he said.
Ndou agrees, saying that Khumalo’s support base has not yet been tested.
He said:
Ndou said that this move not only affected the party’s prospects in KwaZulu-Natal but also nationally and generally moving forward, beyond the elections.
“Some people might now feel that their positions are not safe in the MKP because at any time they could be removed from their positions."
Ndou said Khumalo’s expulsion bore similarities with the removal of Bonginkosi Khanyile from the party's youth leadership.
The party gave no reason for Khanyile’s removal last month, saying only that his removal alongside three other youth leaders was made after careful consideration and was intended to strengthen their drive towards winning a two-thirds majority in the forthcoming elections.
READ: ANC brings out big guns to campaign, particularly in KZN
Ndou said that this would make people in leadership positions in the party uneasy.
"It would be difficult for them to comfortably campaign for the party when they are unsure of how decisions to remove them are made. Others would have to tread carefully, trying not to offend Zuma because that seems to mean that you are out of the party,” Ndou said.
McKinley said all this drama was indicative of Zuma’s sort of politics.
He said:
“It's not about a particular ideology or a particular programme, as one can see from the manifesto, which is not a particularly serious piece of writing. It really does confirm that it's really only about one thing, and that's him as an individual and his political career,” he said.
