Threats of violence and deepening factional tensions have engulfed former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, with members warning of clashes over positions they say are owed to them after financially backing the party’s rise.
Speaking to the Mail & Guardian this week, party activist and traditional healer Andile Dlamini and other disgruntled members said they were ready to physically fight for their positions, which were unfairly given to defectors from other parties, including former party secretary Floyd Shivambu, Bongani Baloyi and Colleen Makhubele.
“Some of us joined MK because we believed in its vision and wanted to see change. I spent a lot of money, about R2 million, to assist during the 2024 elections; hiring tents, transport for bussing people, T-shirts and the likes. Now we are being sidelined and some leaders are saying traditional healers must be silenced. I’m also receiving death threats for my stance.
“But I’m not afraid,” Dlamini said.
His experience reflects growing unease within the party’s rank and file, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal, where members say those who invested time, resources and money into building the party are now being sidelined in favour of leaders who joined after the elections.
Party insiders said at least a handful of senior leaders, including high-profile defectors from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the African National Congress (ANC), have been parachuted into key positions within the party’s structures.
These appointments have fuelled resentment among grassroots organisers who say they were in the trenches mobilising support ahead of the 2024 elections: “While we understand and support the decision by uNxamalala (Zuma) for the party not to convene an elective conference anytime soon, we made a blunder by appointing people who had defected to MKP from other parties shortly after the 2024 general elections.
“These people were not in the trenches with us when we mobilised support for MKP leading up to elections. They were simply parachuted to power. This includes Floyd Shivambu and others,” said Thabiso Nkabinde, a key leader in the Moses Mabhida region, which comprises Pietermaritzburg and surrounding rural towns.
Nkabinde said the leadership musical chairs has also not augured well for a two-year-old formation heading into the 2026 local government elections: “It’s a grave concern for many of the members that we have frequent reshuffling of leaders in the top structure. It has created instability and we’re becoming a mockery as if we do not know what we’re doing.
This has the potential to affect our election machinery leading up to the local polls.”
Tensions within the party have often escalated beyond internal disputes: “Who is ‘Mam [Nomusa] Shoyisa because she messed up in the National Freedom Party (NFP)? She shouldn’t be in charge of our finances. There are people who are destroying the MK party and uMsholozi (Zuma’s other clan name) must intervene. The time has also come for us to organise a meeting in a hall and lock the door. We must not invite the police; I want to see who will come out alive,” one leader threatened.
The remarks follow a dispute in Ward 7 in Nongoma, northern KwaZulu-Natal, where irate members have complained about the appointment of a former NFP official to oversee party finances.
The province delivered the highest share of electoral support for MK in the 2024 elections, with the party securing about 45% of the vote and 37 seats in the provincial legislature. Despite emerging as the largest party, MK was excluded from government after the ANC, Democratic Alliance (DA), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and NFP formed a coalition Government of Provincial Unity.
Some members have linked the internal instability to recent by-election losses in areas previously considered strongholds, warning that ongoing disputes could weaken the party ahead of the 2026 municipal elections.
Dlamini said part of the push is to prevent individuals who previously served as leaders in the ANC from occupying senior roles in MK: “These are people who did wrong during their tenure in the ANC. They should not find any refuge in the MK, otherwise we risk losing votes.”
Tensions have also surfaced at the provincial legislature, where disputes over party funds exposed factional divisions.
As the party’s secretary general, Shivambu faced resistance from a group of legislators who refused to release millions in funds allocated to the party through its legislative representation. The impasse left support staff in various constituencies unpaid for months.
Zuma later intervened to resolve the stand-off, with some implicated members subsequently suspended.
Provincial chairperson Willies Mchunu acknowledged the tensions but cautioned members against raising issues outside party structures: “Criticism is allowed within the party but members are subject to the constitution and code of conduct.”
Party members decry being sidelined by opposition party defectors
