Controversial ANC KwaZulu-Natal secretary general Bheki Mtolo has poked fun at former president Jacob Zuma after it emerged that uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) founder Jabulani Khumalo wanted him removed from the organisation.
Khumalo, one of the founders of the ANC splinter group built around the cult figure of Zuma, failed in his bid to get his estranged friend removed from the ballot as well as the president of the party.
Shortly after the emergence of Khumalo’s letter, Mtolo, in a video that went viral on social media, poked fun at the former head of state.
Video went viral on social media
“Uzwile kuthiwa useshaye irekhodi uNxamalala usexoshwe kuwe wonke amapolitical parties ake waba kuwona. Buyela ekhaya muntu omdala.” Loosely translated, he said: “Did you hear that Nxamalala (Zuma) has broken a record of being fired by three political parties.”
He adds: “Come back home, old man.”
The parties that Mtolo was referring to include the ANC, where Zuma is facing the prospect of being expelled. Also SANCO, which also removed him from being the civic movement’s chairperson in KZN. This after it emerged that Zuma had ties with the ANC rival political party (MKP). The party was formed in September and launched in December.
Mtolo accused Zuma of taking the decision to back MKP out of stupidity. He later said Zuma should apologise to the ANC because it was under him that the ANC was weakened.
Accused Zuma of weakening the ANC
“He was given a strong ANC by Thabo Mbeki, but he gave Ramaphosa a weak ANC. We started losing support in 2009. This was under Zuma when he was president, not under Ramaphosa,” said Mtolo.
During the last general elections in 2019, the ANC recorded a 57.5% national percentage, amounting to about 10 million votes.
In 2014, the party received 11.4 million votes (62%); in 2009, it recorded 65.9%, garnering 11.6 million votes. In 2004, the governing party amassed 10.8 million votes (69.6%) while in the 1999 elections, the party garnered 10.6 million votes taking it to 66%.
