Johannesburg – Former President Jacob Zuma is not leaving the African National Congress (ANC), but he will not campaign or vote for the governing party next year – instead he will throw his weight behind the newly registered Umkhonto We Sizwe Party.
In a written statement read on Zuma’s behalf by his daughter, Duduzile, the former president listed several grievances that he blamed on the present ANC leadership, saying their actions were not in keeping with the party’s traditions.
Zuma listed his grievances that included:
- That the ANC kept quiet when the powers of the President were taken away in the appointment of the Chair of the Commission on so-called State Capture. Zuma said this symbolised an opportunistic amendment of the Constitution of South Africa.
- Zuma said the ANC kept quiet when it became clear that the 2017 national conference and the position of President had been stolen or bought by forces outside of the organisation for an amount ranging between the R300 million, which the President admitted under oath, and the estimated R1 billion or more, found by the Public Protector in her BOSASA report in which Ramaphosa was fingered.
- Zuma said the turning point for him was the misguided statement made by the ANC President, that the ANC is Accused Number 1 for Corruption in South Africa. Zuma said neither the leadership of the ANC in the NEC nor the membership at the most recent national conference saw the need to challenge or change that incorrect statement.
- Zuma said the ANC expelled its Secretary-General using the selective application of the so-called step-aside rule but will now allow the President who is also facing criminal charges to top its list for the next election.
- Zuma said the ANC stood idle when 400 black people were massacred in KwaZulu Natal following the avoidable July 2021 10 unrest caused by the Constitutional Court and Chief Justice Raymond Zondo due to his imprisonment without trial under the ANC of Ramaphosa.
- Zuma said the last straw was when, due to the Public Protector’s 31 questions in the investigation of the Phalaphala scandal, she was suspended and then impeached by the ANC, DA, and Freedom Front working together.
- Zuma said he has now been told that the ANC of Ramaphosa has decided to vote in favour of the impeachment of Judge President Hlophe and Judge Motata. Zuma said the ANC of Ramaphosa has declared war against progressive black professionals and intellectuals.
- Zuma said the ANC of Ramaphosa has plunged the country into darkness with load-shedding which has ruined the economy. Zuma said this could have been easily avoided by keeping the best management which successfully prevented loadshedding and adopting nuclear energy many years ago. Zuma said today we are told that nuclear power has suddenly become affordable.
Zuma said that given these reasons: “I have decided that I cannot and will not campaign for the ANC of Ramaphosa in 2024.
“My conscience will not allow me to lie to the people of South Africa and to pretend that the ANC of Ramaphosa is the ANC of Luthuli, Tambo, and Mandela.
“It is not the ANC that I joined and went to jail for. In this regard, I fully agree with other former leaders like Comrade Thabo Mbeki and others that it would be a betrayal to campaign for the ANC of Ramaphosa”.
Until the much-publicised announcement of the former president’s political future on Saturday afternoon, Umkhonto We Sizwe was generally known as the former armed wing of the ANC.
Since the advent of democracy, the role of Umkhonto We Sizwe has remained contested.
However, Zuma said Umkhonto We Sizwe, which he said he would vote for, has now been registered as a political party with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).
Zuma said: “To explain the necessity for taking these steps and in particular for choosing the vehicle of Umkhonto We Sizwe Party in pursuing our freedom from the present capture by white monopoly capital and the enemies of our people operating among us, I can only quote the founding statement of Umkhonto we Sizwe on 16 December 1961: ‘The time comes in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices: submit or fight’.”
Zuma added: ” That time has now come to South Africa. We shall not submit and we have no choice but to hit back by all means within our power in defence of our future and our freedom.”
He said the statement was true on 16 December 1961 and it is also true on 16 December 2023.
“The new people’s war starts from today,” declared Zuma.
“The only crucial difference is that instead of the bullet, this time we will use the ballot.”
Zuma revealed that he has been speaking to various political parties to form a “voting block” to take on the ANC next year.
The former president said: Due to the toxic atmosphere caused by our captured media, judiciary, and the other arms of the state, it was necessary to conduct these discussions underground.
“We will soon be ready to share the details with the nation. No force can defeat a people’s thirst for freedom.
“Today my mission is only to announce the way forward.”
Reacting to the former president’s stance, the ANC in KZN said Zuma’s announcement that he will “neither vote nor campaign for the ANC in 2024”, was an attempt to sway voters from the governing party.
Speaking on Newsroom Afrika televison, the ANC KZN Spokesperson Mafika Mndebele said it was the duty of each party supporter to defend and protect the movement.
Zuma said the formal launch of the MK Party and the announcement of its interim leadership and party lists will be done in the early part of 2024.
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