Former President Jacob Zuma appointed Floyd Shivambu as the fifth secretary general of the 11-month-old MK Party with immediate effect.
A statement released on Sunday morning said Zuma’s decision as party leader, following consultation with the national officials, complied with its constitution.
“Commander Nyiko Floyd Shivambu will assume all the functions and tasks of Secretary General as prescribed by the Constitution of the MK Party,” the statement read.
Concealed identity of preferred candidate
On Saturday night, three high-ranking party sources said that Zuma was deliberately concealing the identity of his preferred candidate.
But at least two said Zuma was likely to remove the former EFF deputy president from the role of national organiser and give him the keys to run the party’s engine room.
“When we ask him, he just laughs,” said one source, who added that the new secretary general to replace Dr. Sfiso Maseko, who resigned last week, would be someone previously from the EFF.
Sunday World reported that Shivambu was initially Zuma’s preferred candidate. However, his confidantes successfully resisted his proposal, resulting in a covert interview process between the end of September and the beginning of last month.
At least two other candidates were being lobbied to take over from Maseko, whose critics said he was not meeting the required performance standards for the post.
Two struggle veterans interviewed for the SG post
Highly placed MK Party insiders told the publication that a selected team of the MK Party quietly interviewed Joe Ndlela and Ndumiso Matlala, with the latter emerging victorious.
It was not clear then whether Maseko was aware of the process of finding his replacement by that time. It is alleged that only a few members close to Zuma were aware of the interviews that had been quietly conducted.
Zuma was also advised on the status of the organisation, the lack of clarity in the assigned tasks for officials, the requirements for the role of secretary-general, the type of person needed to fill the position, the criteria for identifying a suitable candidate for the office, and the vetting standards.
Zuma was initially expected to officially announce Matlala’s new role at a media briefing in October, but on Sunday it was clear that he remained steadfast in his choice of Shivambu.
The MK Party said Maseko’s resignation came after he requested to resume his work as Chief Director in the Gauteng Department of Health.
“Commander Maseko is released as Secretary General of uMkhonto we Sizwe but will retain his responsibilities as a member of the National High Command, which is the highest decision-making body in the MKP.”
The party said that the name of the new national organiser to take over from Shiambu was still under consideration. “The president commends Maseko for playing an important role in the life of the organisation. The president expresses full confidence in secretary general Nyiko Floyd Shivambu and the entire leadership of uMkhonto we Sizwe Party.”
