By Johnathan Paoli
Former president and uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) leader Jacob Zuma has hailed his party’s growing support and rising popularity as a clear mandate from the people demanding change of government and transformative leadership.
MK Party marked its first anniversary with a Gauteng build-up rally in Vosloorus on Saturday, celebrating the region’s achievement of securing the most votes in the province during the national and provincial elections in May.
The rally on Saturday was part of a build up towards the main event scheduled for Reconciliation Day at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.
It drew over thousands of supporters, who chanted ‘Wenzeni uZuma’, questioning the motives behind Zuma’s legal battles, and alleging he is being unfairly targeted by law enforcement agencies.
In his address, Zuma announced that the party has reopened a legal challenge against the outcome of the May 29 elections.
Zuma, speaking mainly in isiZulu, claimed the party has uncovered substantial evidence of vote tampering during the May elections.
Zuma said that his party was the rightful winner of the elections and accused unnamed “traitors” of sabotaging the outcome.
He vowed to take the fight to the Constitutional Court to challenge the results.
Zuma reiterated alleged possession of evidence of electoral fraud, which will form the basis of the court case.
He also declared that if MK party was in charge of government, poverty would be eradicated in South Africa.
“There would be no poverty if MK had taken over government in May,” Zuma told supporters.
Meanwhile, the party’s Secretary-General, Floyd Shivambu, dismissed allegations by EFF leader Julius Malema, who claimed the MK party was created to destabilize the EFF.
Shivambu said that their focus is on offering an alternative vision, not targeting other political organizations.
“We are not in the business of destroying political parties. Those who join uMkhonto weSizwe do so out of their own political consciousness,” Shivambu said.
He said that the party welcomes individuals from diverse political backgrounds, including former members of the ANC, EFF, and other organisations, who seek a new political vision.
Gauteng spokesperson Bafana Mahlabe, speaking ahead of the event, said his party was the fourth-largest party in the province, praising it as empirical evidence that the party’s emergence in the political space contributed immensely to bringing down the ANC.
Mahlabe said since the party’s launch in December last year, it has had a huge impact on the political system and has, within five months, shot up to be the leading opposition of the new government.
“The recent trend of high-profile leaders, members and ordinary members of society is yet another indication of the growth of MKP in leaps and bounds as a formidable revolutionary movement of the left that is centred in Africanism and bias towards the impoverished and the working class,” Mahlabe said.
He expressed his confidence in overturning the Government of National Unity, referring to it as a scam and a grand coalition arrangement between the “ANC of Ramaphosa and DA of Helen Zille”.
During the elections, Vosloorus was the voting district in Gauteng with the highest number of votes, with MK receiving up to 46.7%, followed by the ANC with 21.4% and the EFF with 7.1%.
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