Political analysts have slammed Former President Jacob Zuma’s Umkhonto weSizwe (MK Party) as a ‘one-man show’ after its leader said that the party has had seven secretaries general in under a year.

Some were of the view that the party is Zuma’s own “personal project,” which he runs as he wishes. 

Zuma spoke at the launch of the MKP Youth Branch in Claremont on Monday, reigniting concerns over the party’s internal instability, leadership style, and long-term viability.

Zuma defended the party’s decision to cycle through seven Secretaries-General in under a year.

“We’re not here to play games,” he said.

“This is not an organisation to make money, it is an organization to liberate South Africa,” Zuma told supporters. 

“If one of us goes off track, we don’t beg them.”

However, independent political analyst Goodenough Mashego said the turnover in senior leadership is less about discipline and more about Zuma’s whims, pointing to a worrying pattern of autocratic control.

Speaking to IOL News on Tuesday, Mashego said the repeated removal and replacement of secretary-generals reflects a deeper issue within the party’s structure.

“Zuma is the one looking for a certain caliber of secretary-general,” said Mashego. 

“It’s not the party’s membership that determines that. Skills and popularity with members don’t matter; what matters is who Zuma wants.”

“If Zuma wants a secretary-general who can’t even write the word ‘tomorrow,’ the MK Party will get one who can’t write. If he wants someone who can’t read, that’s who will be appointed…,” Mashego said.

Mashego described the secretary-general as the engine of any political organisation, responsible for managing membership, expanding structures, and coordinating development at provincial, regional, and branch levels.

“When the secretary-general is unstable, the entire party becomes unstable,” he said. 

“Most of the people removed from that position weren’t even given a chance to prove themselves. Some were removed within two weeks.”

“You can’t build a political party on one man’s whim,” he added.

“You need vision, a mission, and a democratic mandate. The MK Party, apart from the votes it got in the 2024 general election, has no such mandate. Its leadership was not elected, it was appointed.”

Meanwhile, the latest demotion of Floyd Shivambu as the secretary-general for the party has raised eyebrows.

Even though the party claimed Shivambu would be deployed to Parliament, IOL News previously reported that his name does not appear on the party’s official list of Members of Parliament.

This has raised speculation that he may have been quietly removed from the party.

Mashego said this again points to the “undemocratic structure” of the MKP.

“No one in MK’s leadership was elected. All were appointed and continue to be shuffled based on Zuma’s decisions. That’s why it’s so easy for the party to move people around,” he said.

He argued that MKP is not a political party in the conventional sense.

“I’ve said many times, that MK is a project. Projects have a start date and an end date,” Mashego said. 

“This party exists to reclaim the ANC. If the ANC’s leadership in 2027 doesn’t suit MK’s ambitions, the party won’t survive to 2029.”

He warned that MKP is likely hoping a figure like Deputy President Paul Mashatile will emerge as ANC leader in 2027, someone they believe might recall President Cyril Ramaphosa, exit the GNU, and realign with MKP.

“That’s their way of creeping back into power,” he said.

Professor Theo Neethling echoed Mashego’s concerns. 

He said while the MK Party claims to carry forward the liberation legacy of the ANC’s former armed wing, the original Umkhonto weSizwe, Zuma’s interpretation of democratic principles is troubling.

“Zuma’s stance on the Constitution is often ambiguous, if not outright contradictory,” Neethling told IOL News.

“He publicly acknowledges the Constitution’s role in protecting democracy and rights, but many of his actions suggest a willingness to sidestep or undermine it – particularly on land reform, corruption, and the rule of law.”

Neethling said the MK Party has openly stated it will not hold elective conferences, which is something that sets it apart from even the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), often criticised for being tightly controlled by its leader, Julius Malema.

“Malema is accused of running the EFF like a personal project, but at least the party holds elective conferences. MK Party doesn’t… That’s extraordinary in a democracy,” said Neethling.

Commenting on Shivambu’s demotion, he said,“It’s becoming clear that MK Party may be the most undemocratic party ever to win parliamentary seats in post-1994 South Africa.”

Neethling said Zuma appears to believe in a form of democracy rooted in racial majoritarianism.

“Now that white minority rule is over, he seems to think that the party representing the black majority, according to him, MK Party, should have unchecked power. This raises real concerns about democratic backsliding,” he said.

“Zuma did not hesitate to attack the Constitution in recent years, and that shows clear signs of anti-constitutionalism.”

simon.majadibodu@iol.co.za

IOL Politics

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