Ngrayi Ngwenya. File photo
One of former ANC deputy president David Mabuza’s most recognised allies — Enhlanzeni Regional Chair turned EFF leader Ngrayi Ngwenya — has rejected joining the newly formed Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.
The Mail & Guardian understands that a delegation from the MK party, which has been endorsed by former president Jacob Zuma, met Ngwenya on Sunday to convince him to join the party.
Zuma is expected to be one of the speakers at a mass meeting to be held by the MK party in Mpumalanga on Saturday, just a week before the ANC holds its January 8th celebration in Mpumalanga on 13 January.
Ngwenya was suspended from the ANC for five years in July 2021 after he publicly supported Zuma, who was then due to start his 15-month prison sentence for contempt of court.
The ANC found that Ngwenya made inflammatory speeches outside the former president’s home in Nkandla and that his utterances had brought the party into disrepute.
He left the ANC two years into his suspension and joined the EFF in September last year.
Ngwenya told the Mail & Guardian on Tuesday that despite his public support for Zuma, he was unconvinced during engagements he had with the MK Party, to join it.
“They know that I was the person who stood up when they were taking former president Jacob Zuma to jail. I stayed two years after the ANC suspended me and I was in consultation with everyone, nobody told me about this new party until I joined the EFF. I cannot go to Umkhonto weSizwe because I am a member of the EFF fully,” he said.
“I’ve spent more time mobilising people to join the EFF. I cannot go back to them and say I was wrong and let’s go to Umkhonto weSizwe, people will think I am in business. I am a politician and I don’t want to confuse the supporters.”
Ngwenya said there was no case for him to answer to the EFF about his meeting with the MK delegation as any party could make an appointment to see him.
He said it would only be a problem if he committed to working with the MK party.
“To meet me and have an engagement, there’s nothing wrong. President Julius Malema went to meet comrade Zuma (the so-called Nkandla tea party) and I do not see it as an issue. An issue is if you betray the organisation,” he said.
Last week, the Patriotic Alliance expelled its KwaZulu-Natal premier candidate Bonginkosi Khanyile for addressing an MK party rally in Verulam, at which Zuma was present.
The party labelled Khanyile’s actions as treason and said it would not give him a chance to appeal his expulsion.
EFF national spokesperson Sinawo Tambo said Ngwenya undertook the meeting with the MK party after having informed the EFF leadership in the province. He said there was nothing untoward in Ngwenya’s actions that would require any disciplinary action.
Tambo said the party also had no fear that some of its prominent leaders would be approached by other political parties ahead of this year’s elections.
“The EFF fears nothing from anyone. It’s election season, people are welcome to campaign, and we are focused on a total and decisive victory,” he said.
Ngwenya said his former political home would not win an outright majority to govern the province, and that a coalition was most likely.
“They won’t do well in Mpumalanga, they have got too many problems, they are not stable in Gert [Sibanda District], Nkangala, Bushbuckridge sub-region, Nkomazi — it is not like when I was in the ANC. When I do door-to-door visits, people are tired of the ANC, they don’t want to hear anything about the ANC,” he said
Mpumalamga is still one of the ANC’s strongest provinces having won the 2019 elections by 78.23 %. The ANC is expected to remain firm in rural provinces including Limpopo and the Eastern Cape during the May elections.
Speaking of Mabuza, Ngwenya said he had no plans to make any attempts for the ANC leader to defect from the governing party.
“He’s my elder, he is my father, he’s my brother, it is difficult to go to him and say to 1 2 3, I don’t want him to be cross with me. I’m still in touch with him, we greet each other, and discuss situations because his father and I grew up under the leadership of DD and Zuma.”
The M&G previously reported that a decision would be made at the next National Executive Committee on what the ANC will do in response to Zuma endorsing the MK party.
Insiders said that a multi-pronged approach is under construction to deal with the Zuma problem and would include President Cyril Ramaphosa’s close allies in the province.
This approach, which the party used when ANC leaders broke away to form Cope in 2008, will include limited access to the elections strategy by the KwaZulu-Natal provincial executive committee (PEC) and regional executive committees.
ANC insiders who spoke to the M&G say Zuma’s decision to become the face of the newly formed Umkhonto weSizwe party could potentially lead to fallout in KwaZulu-Natal, where he still enjoys support.
“The first thing we need to do is understand who will be going with him. There are some who are within the organisation, not only in KwaZulu-Natal but nationally, who will follow him but a big part of that will be in the province.
“The big threat is KwaZulu-Natal, so we need to understand KwaZulu-Natal and the level of anger there but also the level of mobilisation on the basis of the tribal cut,” a high-ranking NEC member said.