The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has hit the panic mode and is “hunting down” party members who have allegedly joined the new uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party).
The party has been in the news recently after former president Jacob Zuma announced that he will cast his vote for the new party instead of the ANC during the 2024 elections.
Zuma made the announcement at a media briefing held in Soweto on December 16.
Sunday World understands that what puts the ANC in the quagmire, especially in KwaZulu-Natal, is that the majority of branches and regional structures in the province are loyal to Zuma, who has since become the face of the MK Party.
As a result, fears are swelling that many party structures in the province might follow the former statesman and join the new political formation.
‘Msholozi has hit us hard’
Much of the MK Party’s campaign leading up to the 2024 general elections has also been centred around Zuma’s cult-like figure.
“Comrade Msholozi has hit us where it hurt. It’s no secret that our support had grown substantially in KZN because of his presence,” a senior ANC leader, who refused to be identified because he is not authorised to speak to the media, said on Wednesday.
“Senior leaders in the ANC respect and adore him [Zuma], that is why we are worried that they [party members] might follow him to join the MK Party.”
Sunday World has seen a communique purported to be from the office of eThekwini ANC regional secretary instructing branches to disclose the MK Party movements and members who have joined the splinter grouping.
Reads the communique in part: “Report on the MK impact. Number of people who have joined MK or are seen mobilising for it in your branch. Also provide [a] report on ANC structures mobilising for the MK.”
Polarising figure
Zuma remains a polarising figure within the ranks of the ANC, with his sympathisers inside the party contending that he was unfairly treated because “he had stood up against big capital” during his presidency.
Those aligned to the former president say he is the father of radical economic transformation and that he stands side by side with poor and marginalised people.
When Zuma was incarcerated on charges of contempt of court following his refusal to appear in the state capture commission headed by now Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, the country descended into chaos that resulted in the looting and torching of shopping malls in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
More than 300 people died during the weeklong chaos, with KwaZulu-Natal accounting for the biggest death toll in what is now known as the 2021 July unrest.
When Zuma made an appearance at Mzo’s Lifestyle, an entertainment establishment in Verulam outside Durban on Tuesday, he told more than 400 followers who braved a heavy rain that President Cyril Ranphosa is ANC’s enemy number one.
“The ANC under Ramaphosa is not the ANC I know. Our duty is to rescue the ANC,” he said to a loud applause.
