The ANC KwaZulu-Natal leadership says it is “very disappointed” in former president Jacob Zuma for “divorcing” the party and backing what it calls the “fake” Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party he endorsed at the weekend.
But the ANC has not moved to expel Zuma for his “gross ill-discipline”, saying that he is “the property” of the party’s national executive committee, of which he is an ex-officio member because he is a former president of the party.
This is despite demands from the party’s liberation veterans that Zuma be expelled for violating the ANC’s constitution by backing — and campaigning for — a rival political party.
Zuma announced that he would back the MK party — the latest breakaway from the ANC, which was created and registered with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) with his knowledge and blessing — in the coming national and provincial elections.
Zuma said he would not vote for the “ANC of Cyril Ramaphosa” and would instead vote for the MK party, which ”would be working with the Economic Freedom Fighters and other parties”.
On Monday, the ANC held an extended provincial executive committee, along with its leagues and alliance partners, to discuss Zuma’s move, which is likely to hit the party hardest at the polls in KwaZulu-Natal.
The province has historically backed Zuma in his internal ANC battles, which saw him survive being fired by then president Thabo Mbeki after his corruption arrest in 2005 and go on to win control of the governing party.
It continued to back Zuma after his re-arrest in 2018 on the same corruption charges, but declined to support his nominee, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, for the ANC presidency last year, backing Zweli Mkhize instead.
Since then their relationship has waned, despite numerous attempts by the provincial leadership to keep Zuma onside ahead of next year’s crucial poll, which may see the ANC lose the province.
At a media briefing, ANC provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo said Zuma had held his briefing to announce his support for the MK party without following internal ANC processes to address his grievances.
In doing so, Zuma had “de-campaigned the ANC and effectively mobilised for a new political party established with his blessings and knowledge”, Mtolo said.
While other former ANC leaders had in the past voiced their concerns about the party’s shortcomings publicly, this was the first time in its history that “a former president and an outstanding leader of our movement publicly announces his decision to vote for another political party and effectively campaigning for the party”.
“We view [this] as literally divorcing the ANC and leaving the ANC to another political formation. It is no exaggeration to state that this is an act of gross ill-discipline,” Mtolo added, saying the ANC remained focused and would continue with its work.
“Nothing has changed,” he said.
Zuma’s new party was “not a genuine Umkhonto weSizwe but is a party disguised to lure voters and loyal ANC members”, Mtolo said.
The members of the ANC’s military wing, set up in 1961 and disbanded after 1994, could be verified through force numbers and had undergone training and had served in its structures.
“For this one, because we have seen their recruitment forms — they recruit anyone. Even my child that was born in 2 000 can be part of this Umkhonto weSizwe. This is a clear sign that this is not a true Umkhonto weSizwe — [it] is a fake Umkhonto weSizwe,” Mtolo said.
The ANC called on its members and supporters to “be vigilant” and to be aware that the “genuine Umkhonto weSizwe that is with us today is with the ANC and they are in no way campaigning against the ANC”.
Zuma is the KwaZulu-Natal chairperson of the South African National Civics Organisation (Sanco), a member of the ANC’s alliance, but the civic body is not likely to act against him.
ANC deputy chairperson Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu said Sanco, which did not participate in the briefing, was an independent body that would take a decision on Zuma in terms of its own constitution.
A senior Sanco member who asked not to be named said they had met and decided that they could not act against Zuma and expel him because Sanco’s constitution did not stipulate that members had to support the ANC.
“We decided that we cannot act against Nxamalala,” the source said. “The constitution does not allow it. It would be very unfair to expel him for starting a new party when the constitution does not prevent Sanco members from backing the party of their choice, despite the organisation backing the ANC.
“We are aggrieved with him over what he has done, but there is nothing in the constitution of Sanco that prevents him from doing it.”
Sanco is expected to make an announcement of this in the coming days.
Simelane-Zuma said the ANC was “extremely disappointed” that Zuma had started the new party because he had consistently advised party leaders to “stay the course” and deal with the problems facing the party.
Discussions with Zuma would continue, while the province did not regret backing him in the past as “we thought that it was in the best interests of the ANC”.
The province had continued to back Zuma at court and elsewhere despite a decision by the ANC nationally that it should not do so.
Mtolo said Zuma had “already chosen his path” but that it would be “very difficult [for the 81-year-old] to start a new life” after having spent more than 60 years in the ANC.