MK Party ‘not in a rush’ to hold its elective conference

Senior leaders of the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) led by former president Jacob Zuma said the party is in no rush to hold a conference where it will elect new leaders.

The chopping and changing of MKP leaders has raised questions about the future of the party, with its secretary-general Arthur Zwane being the latest senior leader to get the chop.

Zwane’s second sacking took place just two weeks after he was reinstated. According to insiders, he was booted out for “misleading the party”.

Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said some of the reasons why the party is not rushing to hold an elective conference is because they have to vet members in their leadership.

Ndhlela said they will first do background checks and vet anyone who launches a branch of the MKP, because the party fears that spies linked to the ANC could still seek to infiltrate and sabotage the organisation.

“The matter of the elective conference is being discussed by the MKP. At some point, we need to have some sort of an elective conference, right? Are we in a rush? No, we are not in a rush, why must we rush? You have seen what happened leading up to the elections.

“People were being bought – we don’t want to have the same problems. That’s why we need to take our time to ensure that we vet every single person who forms even a branch, because that’s where the problem starts.

“The branches are bought, and before you know it they are then influenced to identify, nominate and appoint a president of their own. And that president himself is probably being influenced by outside individuals of which we have seen certain rallies that were funded by ANC people. So, we don’t want those tendencies of the ANC here,” said Ndhlela.

Before the elections, Zuma fired and expelled MKP founder Jabulani Khumalo and accused him of being an ANC spy. Ndhlela said the party wants to build structures and focus on growing its membership.

“We are going to take our time, not to be put under pressure to set up our structures and go to an elective conference. Why? We don’t have to do that at this point in time.

“What is important is to set up our structures as an organisation, we need to professionalise our organisation. Remember, we are only six months old, but look at what we have achieved,” added Ndhlela.

Political analyst Zakhele Ndlovu said if the MKP takes too long to hold its elective conference, this may create instability and uncertainty within the organisation, leading to supporters losing confidence in the MKP.

“The MK Party should have gone to the election with elected structures, but they went to the election and performed well. I thought now they will have a conference where they will elect leaders, but they did not and they have not.

“This chop and change does not work for any political organisation. You need to have stable structures to run a party. As things stand it looks like a one-man show and that is not a good sign,” said Ndlovu.

The Mercury