President Jacob Zuma’s daughter Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla is at the centre of a bitter row rocking the uMkhonto we Sizwe Party (MKParty) over the purging of high-ranking members.
Zuma-Sambudla, who was sworn in as a member of parliament recently, is accused of using her position as the daughter of the former president to get rid of people she perceives as being a threat to her quest to secure power.
“Duduzile is running amok, using Zuma’s name to deal with all the people she believes are a threat to her. She doesn’t care who those people are and how they got into MK. She is causing chaos, and her behaviour is undesirable and out of order,” a senior party insider told Sunday World.
“If Zuma steps down or whatever situation, this party will go down with him. He is the foundation and glue that is holding the party together and if he steps down, all hell will break loose.”
The grumblings within the party follow endless chopping and changing of party leaders in the past six months, of which Zuma-Sambudla is said to be the mastermind.
The latest outcry emerged after revelations of this week’s removal of the secretary-general Arthur Zwane and treasurer-general Danisa Zulu. The duo was replaced by Sifiso Maseko and Menzi Magubane, respectively.
Internal rumblings have also rocked the fledgling party over parliamentary lists, with some of its volunteers who did the heavy lifting ahead of the May polls feeling sacrificed for people who did not campaign at all.
Many have complained about the likes of former judge, John Hlophe, who is now MK parliamentary leader. The ex-judge was not part of the party’s election campaign but now occupies a top position in their caucus.
This was at the expense of people who were high up on the list going into the polls and appeared destined to be MPs, only to be removed from the list without explanation and some expelled from the party.
MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said: “There are people who are trying to discredit President Zuma and Duduzile. We know who they are and have been monitoring them closely. They are trying by all means to usurp power as infiltrators in the MK Party. Their plan will not work.”
Among the victims of the unilateral decisions is Soweto businessman and president of the AAAM political party, Bishop Sophonia Tsekedi, who was number three on the list of candidates for parliament but has since been expelled from MK.
“Tsekedi was expelled despite his party AAAM having been among the first parties to endorse Zuma and MK Party,” said an insider in the high ranks of the MK Party.
Those who have been removed said Zwane was also a victim of a culture of gossip and paranoia that had set in within MK, allegedly fuelled by Zuma-Sambudla to influence her trigger-happy father to do her bidding and remove her opponents.
She was not doing this alone, they claimed, but had a group of close associates and staff riders on her grand plan to feed Zuma with wrong information to cement their place in all strategic positions in the party.
“Dudu saw a clause in the constitution that says if the president is not around, the secretary-general takes control. So, she decided to pin it on Zwane, saying he inserted that clause because he wants to take over the organisation,” alleged another MK mole.
“But where is the logic in that because Arthur did not draft that constitution alone? There were other people, and everything was done on consensus.
“And, someone is influencing Dudu because that lady does not read, someone said, ‘zoom into this clause, they want to take your father’s party.’ And she went running to her father saying the SG wants to stage a coup.”
MK insiders went on to say that Zuma-Sambudla is trying to lay a solid foundation for herself to take over from her father as party boss. According to them, her power base was anchored through the MK Business Movement. This was why MK Business Movement chairperson Magubane was elevated to the position of the party’s treasurer-general this week.
“This girl has crushed anyone in her path and her rise from nowhere to the power she has amassed now has been a success and the only thing remaining is for her to capture the highest office in the organisation.
“She is good. Just think about it, she controls the purse of the MK, controls the purse of the MK Business Movement, collapsed a strong SG in commander Zwane and she is now a member of PAP (Pan African Parliament). So, who will contest her going forward when she says she wants to become president? She has played her game very well, she’s in charge and everything is about her.”
Said one “victim” of Zuma-Sambudla’s purging: “She is in fact behind the lack of elected structures because having structures will clip her wings and her proximity to daddy.
“The worst of everything is that a disturbing resolution that came out of the strategic meeting that was held in Limpopo says the conference might not be held until 2029.”
The fiddling of lists, of which Zuma-Sambudla is said to be the enforcer, was not only limited to parliament but also provincial legislatures, especially in KZN, which is believed to be crucial to her mission.
In a voice note that we heard, the former KwaZulu-Natal government director-general, Nhlanhla Ngidi, who was the MK Party’s provincial coordinator and a number one candidate on the list to the legislature before being removed, stated that he was removed unfairly.
“What happened to me really hurt me. I was first removed as a co-ordinator without reason. There were rumours that I am accused of being an ANC spy and that Zweli Mkhize bought me a Mercedez Benz. I have never been with Zweli Mkhize for over a year now. Others say that I have been getting R300 000 a month to spy on MK for ANC. I flatly reject that. I became a coordinator because Nxamalala (Zuma) asked me after he called me to Nkandla. Now, when I am being dealt with, he doesn’t call me anymore and I find no protection from him.”
Zuma-Sambudla did not respond to questions.
