Afrika Mayibuye Movement leader Floyd Shivambu has made explosive claims about the conduct of South Africa’s political parties.

Speaking at his party’s inaugural National Convention in Soweto, Shivambu said he had personally witnessed meetings where opposition leaders discussed how to divide government contracts for personal gain.

“The agenda was how to steal government money. There was a discussion on how to steal. you must steal this much and you must steal this much,” he told delegates, adding that such practices were entrenched across the political spectrum.

Shivambu did not specify which political party he was referring to, having been a member of both the EFF and former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe Party.

He said that he was referring to all parties in Parliament, and that he had observed an “official item on the agenda” that revolved around corrupt tender allocations.

He alleged that all political parties represented in Parliament view the tender system as a basis to raise revenue for electoral purposes, rather than as a mechanism to deliver services to citizens.

“[A]ll existing political parties want to protect the tender system and view it as a resource,” he said, insisting that his movement was “in pursuit of something else”.

The tender system, a cornerstone of South Africa’s procurement process, has long been criticised for enabling corruption and patronage.

Investigations such as the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture documented how tenders were manipulated to benefit politically connected individuals and fund party structures.

At the convention, Shivambu positioned the Afrika Mayibuye Movement as a “21st-century liberation movement” dedicated to restoring dignity to South Africans.

He said that the party would contest the 2026 local government elections with ambitions of securing outright majorities nationwide, rejecting corrupt coalitions or extortion in post-election negotiations.

“We are not postulating any coalitions. We are contesting elections to win them outright,” he said, stressing that Mayibuye would not engage in tender-driven deals that have destabilised metros like Johannesburg and Tshwane.

Shivambu’s critique of the tender system has sparked debate.

Some parties, including reformist voices within the ANC and smaller opposition groups, have argued for scrapping or radically restructuring the tender process to reduce opportunities for graft.

Proposals include centralising procurement, introducing stricter oversight, or shifting toward community-driven development models.

Shivambu’s stance aligns with these calls, but he frames the issue as evidence of systemic rot across all existing formations.

“All the existing political formations have no willingness, no capacity, no determination and no possibility to change the lives of our people,” he said in videos, citing the low voter turnout in the 2024 general elections as proof of public disillusionment.

The Afrika Mayibuye Movement, launched this year after Shivambu’s expulsion from the MK Party, has already faced internal challenges, including high-profile resignations and factional disputes.

Shivambu insisted the party was “here to stay” and would build grassroots structures across all nine provinces.

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McKinsey and Company Africa Ltd, a subsidiary of McKinsey & Company, will pay more than $122 million to resolve a U.S. investigation into a bribery scheme in South Africa, the Justice Department said on Thursday.

Privately owned McKinsey Africa was charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for agreeing to pay bribes to officials at state-owned energy company Eskom and port and freight rail operator Transnet in exchange for non-public information about consulting contracts.

McKinsey Africa entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department.

“McKinsey Africa bribed South African officials in order to obtain lucrative consulting business that generated tens of millions of dollars in profits,” said Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

Vikas Sagar, a senior former partner at McKinsey, previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the act. He could not immediately be reached for comment.

In a statement, McKinsey said Sagar had concealed his conduct from the company, and that it fired him soon after it learned about the issues.

McKinsey and McKinsey Africa earned around $85 million in profits through the bribery scheme, the Justice Department said. Eskom had hired McKinsey to help it execute a “turnaround plan.”

Inefficiencies at Eskom and Transnet have constrained growth in Africa’s most industrialized economy for more than a decade.

The Justice Department said McKinsey Africa had received credit for cooperating with its investigation and conducting anti-corruption training for employees. The $122,850,000 McKinsey has agreed to fork up includes a penalty it will pay in South Africa.

McKinsey is also in talks with the Justice Department to pay more than $600 million to resolve a separate investigation into the consulting firm’s work helping opioid manufacturers boost sales that allegedly contributed to a deadly addiction epidemic, people familiar with the matter have told Reuters.

AP

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FIFA will judge any disputes between Club World Cup teams who each want to take the same player to the tournament in the United States next year, according to tournament rules published on Tuesday.

Scheduling a club event that straddles the June 30 date when player contracts typically expire — as Kylian Mbappé’s did when moving in July as a free agent to Real Madrid from Paris Saint-Germain — has pushed FIFA to find solutions for new transfer issues.

The 32-team Club World Cup is played from June 15-July 13 and potential free agents at qualified teams include Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, Bayern Munich trio Alphonso Davies, Joshua Kimmich and Leroy Sané, Inter Milan defender Denzel Dumfries and Madrid’s Ferland Mendy.

“Should two clubs wish to include the same player on their respective provisional list, the FIFA general secretariat shall decide for which club the player may be listed, after hearing all concerned parties,” the world soccer body’s tournament rules state.

Club World Cup rules say players must be on a team’s provisional list approved by FIFA before they can be selected in the final squad for the tournament. Madrid and PSG are among the 12 teams from Europe.

Pending free agents can officially start talks in January with other clubs and reach agreements to sign for them next season.

However, the June 15 start of the Club World Cup is technically still this season and FIFA has given member federations the option of opening an exceptional transfer window from June 1-10 to push deals through.

It means players in Europe could play for one team in the Champions League final on May 31 and for a different team 15 days later at the Club World Cup.

FIFA also will let Club World Cup teams change their squad list mid-tournament, from June 27-July 3 to “replace players whose contracts have naturally expired.”

However, players can represent only one team at the Club World Cup and would not be eligible to transfer and play for another in the second half of the tournament.

FIFA has faced issues with its long-term plan to relaunch the Club World Cup as a month-long tournament played every four years and paying elite teams tens of millions of dollars in prize money.

The tournament still has no broadcast deal, just one sponsor — though FIFA has promised others, likely from Saudi Arabia, will soon be announced — and is the subject of a formal complaint to the European Commission in Brussels by players unions and domestic leagues about how it was added to the congested global soccer calendar.

Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti suggested in June his storied club might be ready to boycott FIFA’s invitation though the European champion walked back that claim.

Any team that formally signs up for the Club World Cup then withdraws will be fined “at least 250,000 Swiss francs” ($290,000), FIFA rules said on Tuesday, if the decision is made at least 30 days before the first game. Any withdrawal after mid-May will get a fine of “at least 500,000 Swiss francs” ($580,000).

FIFA has yet to confirm tournament prize money or details of the tournament draw, which is expected early in December.

The 32nd and last entry, from South America, will be decided on Nov. 30 by the Copa Libertadores final between Brazilian teams Atlético Mineiro and Botafogo in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Teams qualified by winning a continental club championship from 2020 to 2024, or were ranked highly by consistently good results in competitions. Countries were limited to two entries unless they had more than two title winners. Brazil will have four teams in the U.S. and Mexico will have three.

FIFA added Lionel Messi’s club Inter Miami to the lineup last month to represent the host nation based on its regular-season record, rather than wait for the MLS Cup final on Dec. 7. Inter Miami will play in the opening game at the Miami Dolphins stadium.

Tournament rules confirmed there will be no third-place game, and player suspensions for red cards will not carry over to any other competition, such as a domestic league game in August.

AP

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