UMkhonto we Sizwe (political party)

Last updated

uMkhonto weSizwe
Spear of the Nation
AbbreviationMK
Leader Jacob Zuma [1]
Governing bodyInterim National Committee [2]
Secretary GeneralSihle Ngubane [2]
Deputy Secretary GeneralArthur Zwane [2]
Treasurer GeneralDanisa Zulu [2]
National Organiser Nkosinathi Nhleko [2]
FoundedDecember 2023;6 months ago (December 2023) [3]
Registered7 September 2023;8 months ago (7 September 2023) [4] [5]
Split from African National Congress
Ideology
Political position Left-wing [6] [7] [8]
National Assembly
58 / 400
National Council of Provinces
0 / 90
Pan-African Parliament
0 / 5
(South African seats)
Provincial Legislatures
0 / 430
Website
mkparty.org.za

uMkhonto weSizwe ( Zulu for 'Spear of the Nation'), abbreviated as MK, and often referred to as the MK Party, is a left-wing populist [3] [9] South African political party, founded in December 2023. The party is named after uMkhonto we Sizwe (also shortened to MK), the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC) which was active during the apartheid regime in South Africa. However, the ANC has threatened legal action over the usage of the name, [10] and the formation has been criticised by original MK veterans. [11]

Contents

The party rose to prominence in December 2023, when former president Jacob Zuma announced that, while planning to remain a lifelong member of the ANC, he would not be campaigning for the ANC in the 2024 South African general election, and would instead be voting for MK. [12] He stated that "I cannot and will not" campaign for the ANC of current president Cyril Ramaphosa, Zuma's successor, and that to do so would be a "betrayal". [13] [14]

On 21 May 2024, a week before the 2024 general election, the Constitutional Court ruled that party leader Jacob Zuma was ineligible to serve in Parliament as his fifteen-month prison sentence for contempt of court disqualified him. [15] [16] [17] Although his image would remain on ballot papers, alongside his party's logo, Zuma's name would be removed from MK's list of parliamentary candidates. [15]

Ideology

The party has been described as populist, Zulu nationalist, [18] [19] [20] and "anti-foreigner". [21] Voice of America called it a "radical left-wing party", [22] [23] [24] while Al Jazeera described its policies as socialist. [25] It has supported some socially conservative [26] policies including the repeal of laws legalising same-sex marriage. [27] The party supports racially discriminative policies, such as expropriating white-owned land without compensation. [28]

Support

Since the creation of the party, all opinion polling has shown it holds strong support in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, [29] [30] with black and coloured residents being the most favourable of the party. [31] In early 2024 published opinion polls projected that the MK Party would cut significantly into the ANC vote within the province, [32] [33] [34] [35] and attracted a polling percentage up to 35.6%. [29] The party also attracted significant percentages in the immediate north-western province of Mpumalanga. [29]

In January 2024, Black First Land First party leader Andile Mngxitama announced that he had joined the party, although he stated that BLF would not cease to exist, and that it was an electoral pact. [36]

Infighting

The party has experienced infighting, with a number of resignations and dismissals, including party founder Jabulani Khumalo and others on the 2024 election list. [37] [38]

In response to his dismissal, Khumalo claimed that he was still president, that Zuma was merely a consultant, and in turn suspended Zuma, asking the IEC to remove the Zuma's name from the candidate lists. [39] The IEC subsequently ruled in favour of Zuma and allowed him to remain on the party's lists, noting his status as the MK Party's registered leader. [40]

Electoral results

In February 2024, the party contested its first election, finishing third with 19% of the vote in the ward 8 by-election in the Abaqulusi Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, behind the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) on 47% and African National Congress (ANC) on 35%. [41]

Later that month, the party again finished third, winning 28% of the vote in an uPhongolo by-election, behind the IFP on 36% and the ANC on 33%. [42]

On 28 February 2024, the party contested a by-election in Govan Mbeki in Mpumalanga, its first outside KwaZulu-Natal, finishing second on 28% behind the ANC on 51%. [43]

National Assembly elections

ElectionParty leaderVotes%Seats+/–PositionResult
2024 Jacob Zuma 2,344,30914.58%
58 / 400
New3rdTBD

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob Zuma</span> President of South Africa from 2009 to 2018

Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a former anti-apartheid activist, member of uMkhonto we Sizwe, and president of the African National Congress (ANC) from 2007 to 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zweli Mkhize</span> South African doctor and politician

Zwelini Lawrence Mkhize is a South African medical doctor and politician who served as the Minister of Health from May 2019 until his resignation on 5 August 2021. He previously served as the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from 2018 to 2019. Before that, he was the fifth Premier of KwaZulu-Natal from 2009 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bheki Cele</span> South African minister of police

Bhekokwakhe "Bheki" Hamilton Cele has been the South African Minister of Police since February 2018. He was National Commissioner of the South African Police Service for two years, until misconduct allegations led to his suspension in October 2011 and removal in June 2012. He has also served as Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, on the KwaZulu-Natal Executive Council, and in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature. He is a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, and was imprisoned on Robben Island during apartheid.

There have been many political assassinations in post-apartheid South Africa. In 2013 it was reported that there had been more than 450 political assassinations in the province of KwaZulu-Natal since the end of apartheid in 1994. In July 2013 the Daily Maverick reported that there had been "59 political murders in the last five years". In August 2016 it was reported that there had been at least twenty political assassinations in the run up to the local government elections on the 3rd of August that year, most of them in KwaZulu-Natal.

Edward Senzo Mchunu is a South African politician currently serving as Minister of Water and Sanitation since 5 August 2021. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), he was formerly the Minister of Public Service and Administration from 30 May 2019 to 5 August 2021 and the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal from 22 August 2013 until 23 May 2016.

Sfiso Norbert Buthelezi is a South African politician and member of the National Assembly of South Africa. He is a member of the country's ruling party, the African National Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National People's Ambassadors</span> Political party in South Africa

The National People's Ambassadors (NPA) is a South African political party formed in 2015. It describes itself as a "radical, left, anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movement with an internationalist outlook”, and wishes to nationalise mines and banks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 South African general election</span>

On 29 May 2024, general elections were held in South Africa to elect a new National Assembly as well as the provincial legislature in each of the nine provinces. This was the 7th general election held under the conditions of universal adult suffrage since the end of the apartheid era in 1994. The new National Council of Provinces (NCOP) will be elected at the first sitting of each provincial legislature.

Mervyn Alexander Dirks is a South African politician who served as a Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature from June 2023 until February 2024. A former member of the African National Congress, he previously served as a member of the National Assembly from May 2014 to January 2023.

John Andile Mngxitama is a South African politician serving as the president of the Black First Land First party since October 2015. Formerly a member of the Economic Freedom Fighters, he served as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa for the party from May 2014 until his expulsion in April 2015.

Philani Godfrey Mavundla is a South African politician, Zulu nationalist and business tycoon who has been the Mayor of the Umvoti Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal since 2023, having previously served from 2011 to 2013 as a member of the African National Congress. He served as the Deputy Mayor of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality from 2021 until 2022. He is the founder and current leader of the Abantu Batho Congress, a party he founded in early-2020 after he resigned from the National Freedom Party (NFP).

Nkululeko Ntuthuko Mahlaba is a South African politician and healthcare practitioner. A member of the African National Congress, he serves as the party's provincial treasurer in KwaZulu-Natal as well as the chairperson of the party's Mbuso Kubheka Region. Since May 2023, he has been the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) responsible for Sports, Arts and Culture in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government. From August 2022 to May 2023, he was the MEC for Human Settlements and Public Works. Mahlaba previously served as the executive mayor of the Newcastle Local Municipality from 2019 to 2021.

The uMkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans' Association (MKMVA) was an auxiliary political organisation affiliated to South Africa's African National Congress (ANC). It was founded in 1996 to represent the interests of individuals who had participated in the armed struggle against apartheid as members of Umkhonto weSizwe (MK), the ANC's armed wing. Although its relationship to the ANC and MK was not formally or legally codified, the organisation received a degree of de facto recognition both from the ANC and from the ANC-led government.

The Govan Mbeki Local Municipality is a Local Municipality in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The council consists of sixty-three members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Thirty-two councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in thirty-two wards, while the remaining thirty-one are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received. In the election of 1 November 2021 the African National Congress (ANC) lost its majority, but remained the largest party, winning twenty-six seats.

The Provincial Executive Committees (PECs) of the African National Congress (ANC) are the chief executive organs of the party's nine provincial branches. Comprising the so-called “Top Five” provincial officials and up to 30 additional elected members, each is structured similarly to the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) and is elected every four years at party provincial conferences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moe Shaik</span> South African spy and diplomat

Riaz "Moe" Shaik, also spelled Mo Shaik, is a South African civil servant, diplomat, businessman, and former intelligence operative who has been the South African High Commissioner to Canada since 2022. He is a former chief of the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee and a former director of the foreign intelligence wing of the State Security Agency, at that time still called the South African Secret Service.

Bangokwakhe Madesius "Super" Zuma is a South African politician and former trade unionist who has served as KwaZulu-Natal's Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Agriculture and Rural Development since February 2023. He has represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature since September 2018, having formerly served in his seat from 2014 to 2015.

Bonginkosi Meshack Radebe is a South African politician who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature until May 2019. He was formerly Deputy Speaker in the legislature and also served as a Member of the Executive Council (MEC) in KwaZulu-Natal from 2009 to 2014. He was known for his role in mediating the political violence between the ANC and Inkatha in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal in the 1990s.

Johannes Phumani Phungula was a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 2004 to 2009. A veteran of the Defiance Campaign, he joined the ANC in 1952 and spent several decades as an underground operative for Umkhonto we Sizwe in rural Natal, working closely with Jacob Zuma. He was awarded the Order of Luthuli in Gold posthumously in December 2009.

Eric "Stalin" Mtshali was a South African politician, trade unionist, and anti-apartheid activist. He was a founding member both of the South African Congress of Trade Unions in 1955 and of Umkhonto we Sizwe in 1961. He was also a stalwart of the South African Communist Party.

References

  1. ↑ "MK Party – MK Party Home" . Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Party Leaders – MK Party" . Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  3. 1 2 Pilling, David. "South African election turns populist as parties play anti-foreigner card". Financial Times. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  4. ↑ Mahlati, Zintle (19 September 2023). "Trademark war: ANC blindsided as MK registered as political party to contest 2024 poll". News24 . Media24.
  5. ↑ Mavuso, Sihle (27 September 2023). "Political party called Umkhonto Wesizwe, among others, gazetted by IEC to contest 2024 national elections". Independent Online . Archived from the original on 1 October 2023.
  6. ↑ "South Africa's Zuma Fails to Show Up at Rally for His New Party". 21 January 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  7. ↑ "Zuma deals new blow to ANC hopes in S. Africa election". France24 . 16 December 2023. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Zuma said he would vote for the radical new left-wing Umkhonto We Sizwe (MK) party, named after the ANC's old armed wing, and urged all South Africans to reject the ANC.
  8. ↑ "South Africa's Zuma Fails to Show Up at Rally for His New Party". Voice of Africa . 21 January 2024. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. TEMBISA, South Africa – Supporters of South Africa's embattled former president Jacob Zuma's newly-formed radical left-wing party said Sunday they hope he might soon be the country's leader again, even though he failed to show up at their rally.
  9. ↑ "South Africa's Zuma Fails to Show Up at Rally for His New Party". 21 January 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  10. ↑ Ramushwana, Alpha. "Experts weigh in on the Legal tussle over the uMkhonto weSizwe name". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "MK veterans slam former president Jacob Zuma for his conduct". msn.com. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  12. ↑ "The battle for the soul of uMkhonto weSizwe". www.polity.org.za. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  13. ↑ Mutsila, Lerato (17 December 2023). "Jacob Zuma ditches ANC in 2024 elections, vows 'total liberation". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  14. ↑ "Former South African president Zuma leaves ANC". msn.com. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  15. 1 2 Williams, Rafiek; Chothia, Farouk (21 May 2024). "South Africa's top court bars Zuma from standing in election". BBC . Archived from the original on 21 May 2024.
  16. ↑ Chutel, Lynsey (20 May 2024). "South Africa's Highest Court Says Jacob Zuma Can't Serve in Parliament". The New York Times . The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on 20 May 2024.
  17. ↑ Hunter, Qaanitah (21 May 2024). "Why Jacob Zuma being barred from S Africa election won't derail his support". Al Jazeera English . Al Jazeera Media Network.
  18. ↑
  19. ↑ Ndou, Clive (6 February 2024). "Fears MK party could stoke ethnic violence". Mail & Guardian . Archived from the original on 7 February 2024.
  20. ↑ "Zuma's uMkhonto we Sizwe party threatens ANC dominance ahead of elections: Katzenellenbogen – Biznews". South African Institute of Race Relations . 28 February 2024. Archived from the original on 29 February 2024.
  21. ↑ Pilling, David. "South African election turns populist as parties play anti-foreigner card". Financial Times. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  22. ↑ "South Africa's Zuma Fails to Show Up at Rally for His New Party". 21 January 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  23. ↑ "Zuma deals new blow to ANC hopes in S. Africa election". France24 . 16 December 2023. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Zuma said he would vote for the radical new left-wing Umkhonto We Sizwe (MK) party, named after the ANC's old armed wing, and urged all South Africans to reject the ANC.
  24. ↑ "South Africa's Zuma Fails to Show Up at Rally for His New Party". Voice of Africa . 21 January 2024. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. TEMBISA, South Africa – Supporters of South Africa's embattled former president Jacob Zuma's newly-formed radical left-wing party said Sunday they hope he might soon be the country's leader again, even though he failed to show up at their rally.
  25. ↑ Hunter, Qaanitah. "Why South Africa's opposition may struggle to unseat the ruling ANC". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  26. ↑ "Jacob Zuma campaigns on ticket using race, land, same-sex laws as flashpoints".
  27. ↑ Nonyukela, B. "Jacob Zuma makes homophobic remarks at MK rally". Business Live. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  28. ↑ Savage, Rachel (31 May 2024). "South Africa: Zuma's new party upends election as ANC reels from vote collapse". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  29. 1 2 3 "ANC majority under threat in Mpumalanga – eNCA survey". politicsweb.co.za. 17 March 2024. Archived from the original on 18 March 2024.
  30. ↑ "Survey of South African Voter Opinion" (PDF). thebrenthurstfoundation.org. Brenthurst Foundation. March 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 March 2024.
  31. ↑ "Polling The Umkhonto Wesizwe Party In KwaZulu-Natal". srfreports.co.za. Social Research Foundation. February 2024. Archived from the original on 8 April 2024.
  32. ↑ Mkentane, Luyolo (13 February 2024). "Zuma's MK could slash ANC support in KwaZulu-Natal, poll shows". Business Day . Arena Holdings. Archived from the original on 16 February 2024.
  33. ↑ Buccus, Imraan (10 March 2024). "Watershed moment awaits KwaZulu-Natal where the election battle is new MK vs old ANC". Daily Maverick . Archived from the original on 10 March 2024.
  34. ↑ Boonzaaier, Dawie (10 March 2024). "MK Party could rule KZN as it enjoys mounting support in the province, threatening ANC" . News24. Media24.
  35. ↑ Makhaye, Chris (5 April 2024). "Can Jacob Zuma and his MK party unseat the ANC in South Africa's election?". Al Jazeera English . Al Jazeera Media Network. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024.
  36. ↑ Maliti, Soyiso. "Has Schabir Shaik joined Zuma's MK Party? One spokesperson says yes, another says no". News24. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  37. ↑ Maliti, Soyiso. "'Same faces who caused problems in the ANC': 'Corrupt' people in strategic MKP posts, says ex-leader". News24. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  38. ↑ Capa, Siyamtanda. "MK Party expels 'rogue elements', including party founder Jabulani Khumalo". News24. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  39. ↑ Maliti, Soyiso. "'Face' vs founder: MK Party implodes as expelled Khumalo suspends 'consultant' Zuma". News24. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  40. ↑ Jeanette, Chabalala. "Zuma remains face of MK Party for elections – IEC". Sowetan Live. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  41. ↑ Sussman, Wayne (8 February 2024). "IFP retains Vryheid, KZN ward amid ANC gains, strong MK debut". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  42. ↑ Sussman, Wayne (15 February 2024). "MK party snatches votes from ANC in second Zululand scare". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  43. ↑ Sussman, Wayne (29 February 2024). "MK takes votes from ANC, EFF in encouraging Mpumalanga debut". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.