Axed MKP secretary-general Floyd Shivambu was forced off stage by a chorus of defiance last weekend at a Ward 6 meeting in Ekuthuleni hall in Sabie, Mpumalanga, just days before MKP leader Jacob Zuma removed him from his powerful position.
In a calculated ambush, anti-Shivambu party members turned a by-election community engagement meeting where he was a guest speaker into political theatre. Initially singing struggle songs, the crowd turned the volume up when Shivambu began speaking, drowning his words in a “musical mutiny”, according to insiders. It was clear that this was not a rally but a rejection.
“That was a trap,” said a party activist who had spoken on record but cannot be named since the party issued a gag order after Shivambu got the boot. “They pretended to be in tune with him, but they were only in tune with each other. We’d had enough of his divisive leadership. Our wish was for him to go, and that wish has now been fulfilled.”
The person said they did not welcome Shivambu because the branches in the Thaba Chweu subregion were rigged in his favour. “We have been working the MKP ground with many commanders, but with power from the office of the secretary-general, we were kept out of the formal structures because we supported commander Mary Phadi as provincial convener.
“We did not have animosity towards Floyd. We just wanted him to know how it feels to be kept out. He had no right to sideline us and still enjoy our support. Now that he is gone, we hope the branches will reunite and work together for the good of MK,” she said.
Phadi, the controversial Mpumalanga provincial convener, released a blistering video attacking Shivambu’s internal defenders a week earlier. “There are a handful of members who are claiming that Mpumalanga is saying ‘Hands off Floyd’. We want to put it very clearly that Floyd must go,” Phadi said. “We don’t care where he is going. Whether he is going back to the EFF or whether he is going home, it’s none of our business.”
Shivambu was responsible for destroying party structures and purging committed leaders, according to Phadi. “When Floyd came in to help with party structures, we had no problem because MKP shocked everyone, including those of us who built it from scratch. It grew way too fast, and we trusted the president’s conviction that Floyd could help stabilise branches.
“Instead, we were shocked to see him purging leaders of the regions and subregions, including myself. In essence, the people who gave everything to help MKP win elections have been discarded. That is a demolition process. It’s a desecration of our beloved party.”
According to a source, discontent with Shivambu had reached a boiling point. Anti-Shivambu branches were planning a march to Jacob Zuma’s homestead in Nkandla. It was later cancelled after Kwadakwadunuse assured Shivambu would be removed soon. In a press conference on Tuesday, Zuma confirmed his dismissal. Shivambu was redeployed to Parliament, where he will report to Coleen Makhubele, who replaced Mzwanele Manyi as chief whip.
For the branches that orchestrated his musical send-off, the chorus was simple: he came, he spoke, they sang – and now, he’s gone.
Shivambu and national spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndlela did not respond to media queries shortly after the Sabie debacle.
