Former President and uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party leader Jacob Zuma dances on stage of the party’s last rally in eMalahleni on 26 May 2024. Picture: AFP
JOHANNESBURG – Former president, Jacob Zuma has promised to reclaim the African National Congress (ANC), once he regains power.
Zuma made these comments while addressing his supporters outside the Johannesburg High Court on Monday.
This is where the legal battle between the expelled leader of the party, Jabulani Khumalo, and Zuma was playing out.
Khumalo claims that Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile Zuma–Sambudla wrote and signed a fraudulent letter to the IEC claiming that Zuma was the new president of the party.
It has been Zuma’s stance that even though he campaigned and voted for a different political party, his uMkhonto weSizwe Party, he remains a devout member of the ANC.
On Monday, he moved to explain to his supporters what he meant by this.
“Once we are in power, we will reclaim our ANC, we will not abandon it because the ANC, which has been misdirected, is not a party of criminals but is the ANC that was built by our forefathers.”
As his supporters nodded in agreement, Zuma said that it was not the ANC that was lost but its leaders.
Despite uMkhonto weSizwe doing surprisingly well at the polls, becoming the third-largest party in the country, Zuma still believes that one day he will regain control of the ANC.
Following what has been dubbed a watershed election, the African National Congress (ANC) registered its worst performance in 30 years, losing its majority at just 40% of voter support.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) remains the official opposition at 21% of voter support, while former President Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe party booted out the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) from being the third largest political party when it garnered more than two million votes (14%) in less than year of existence.
The DA has closed the door on the MK Party and the red berets for coalition talks, suggesting leniency towards negotiations with the ANC.
The MK party
However, neither the ANC nor the DA have written off a potential partnership, but ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula warned they would not be dictated to by other parties.
The MK Party, for example, has repeatedly stated that it would not work with “the ANC of Ramaphosa”.
At the same time, EFF leader Julius Malema said while Cyril Ramaphosa is not their preferred presidential candidate, they would not get involved in the internal battles of their ANC, adding that Ramaphosa remaining ANC leader was not a “deal breaker”.
“The ANC will stand its ground and speak for itself in terms of the outcome of the election, and we will not accept to be bullied in any way that others could,” Mbalula said in response to reports of calls for Ramaphosa’s resignation as a condition for potential partnerships.
At the same time, ANC veterans like Jacob Zuma-sympathiser Tony Yengeni have denounced the possibility of a partnership with the DA, calling it the ultimate betrayal of the martyrs of the liberation struggle.
I can never support a DA/ANC coalition..Never! It will be the ultimate betrayal of all those martyrs who made the supreme sacrifice..& layed down their lives for freedom.. pic.twitter.com/zhqCUjZHyC
— Tornado..Veteran 102 (@tyengeni1954) June 1, 2024
Mbalula dismissed Yengeni.
I don’t know what Tony Yengeni talks about. The question is, the ANC that he talks about, that he never campaigned for, was never voted in majority. So, if maybe he added more voice, we would not be in the quagmire even thinking of working with whoever. We would just be marching forward. He was tweeting and de-campaigning us, so that is where the vote went to. Maybe he must talk to Zuma.”
Ramaphosa is expected to address the media -following his party’s dismal performance at the polls.
