The mixed forces behind Zuma’s MK party – fed up ANC members, taxi industry, tenderpreneurs, ex-fighters
MK founder Jabulani Khumalo claimed that Zuma personally expelled him without due process and he has challenged this decision in the Electoral Court. A ruling is pending. There are signs that the party is a vehicle for Zuma to achieve his political goals, including quashing the many charges that he is facing or could face in the future, through a political solution.These are the people on the ground whose vote ensured MK received more than two million votes in the recent elections. They are unhappy with the leadership of Cyril Ramaphosa and the direction the ANC has taken since he came into power.
Many are jobless, skilled or unskilled young people angered by repeated ANC promises regarding the economy, service delivery failures, gatekeeping within the party, and corruption in the three spheres of government.These are ex-combatants and their families who returned from exile, as well as those who were trained inside South Africa in the 1960s and 1990s.
How the community that formed around the alleged RET ‘Guptabots’ migrated overnight to Zuma’s MK party The oft-told narrative is that this group’s main gripe is that its members have been sidelined by current ANC leaders who are “eating alone”. Some of them wish for the return of the good old days of Zuma, when tenders rained to them from various government sources, mainly ANC-controlled municipalities. Their wealth and influence have diminished in the post-Zuma era, but they might be hoping that, with the rise of MK, the good old days will return.
A member of this group, who asked not to be named, said: “We cannot sit by and allow other people and other races, enjoying the economy of our country while we are languishing in poverty. First we warn those who are working on site that they must give us something or everything will come to a standstill. If they listen, we negotiate terms and conditions. If they refuse all hell breaks loose.”
MK founding leader Jabulani Khumalo, for example, is listed as number one to headline the list of people heading for the National Assembly.Khumalo was first compelled to write a letter to the IEC relinquishing the MK Party presidency to Zuma. From there on, he was expelled by Zuma after being accused of “acting presidential, complete with a group of bodyguards and convoys” and receiving gifts, money and cars from some ANC leaders.