Former South African and ANC president, Jacob Zuma. (MKP/X)
The spokesperson for the Jacob Zuma-endorsed uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) has laughed off suggestions that it incited, and is agitating for the continuation of, the illegal municipal strike in eThekwini that led to the death of one city employee, the attempted murders of two others and has left Durban and its suburbs drowning in uncollected refuse.
But Nhlamulo Ndhlela also told the Mail & Guardian there should be no doubt about who holds sway in the region and the city. “We own and control eThekwini,” he said, when asked about the party’s support in KwaZulu-Natal’s only metro.
“The ANC must not project their shortcomings on us,” he added, saying the strike was simply another symptom of the “bought” ANC’s inability to govern under the “bought” leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
MKP election posters bearing the face of Jacob Zuma have been erected throughout eThekwini, and while the party is yet to announce its presidential candidate for the 29 May general elections, Zuma — who was suspended from the ANC in January for his endorsement of the MKP — is first on its election list.
In a statement last week, the provincial ANC said the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) and the MKP should “take full responsibility for orchestrating the mayhem that resulted in the destruction of billions worth of socio-economic infrastructure. They ruthlessly cut water to residents, businesses, clinics and hospitals.”
ANC provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo also said that “a few Samwu members and MK Party leaders must be held accountable for their actions” during the strike.
“The MK Party is behind the destruction of billions worth of electricity and water infrastructure, which has put the lives of patients at risk. Many families are suffering as a result of blackouts and water outages,” he said.
“It was the same MK Party members who were behind the July 2021 riots and looting that cost this province R20 billion.”
In fact, the high-level panel report into those riots, commissioned by Ramaphosa, pointed to factional battles and blatant governance failures within the ANC as having fuelled the eight days of unrest.
Continued Mtolo in his statement: “In actuality, these are just criminals who are masquerading as political activists. Be on the lookout for them. They will be going door to door, presenting themselves as messiahs with solutions to the very same crisis they have created for narrow, selfish ends.”
The strike started on 27 February over Samwu seeking wage benchmarking akin to that of other metros. While the city said last week that services had resumed and workers and contractors had started clearing the massive backlog, dozens of suburbs are still heaving under uncollected waste and the accompanying flies, bees and rats.
Several wards are still experiencing electricity and water outages, the result of “sabotage”, allegedly by Samwu workers, the city has said, or simply the inability of employees to attend to the myriad daily faults (the result of poor infrastructure spend and lack of maintenance by the city) because of threats, harassment and intimidation by workers who are still striking or have been dismissed.
eThekwini residents have also been bombarded by WhatsApp messages circulated on community groups saying that the court case between the ANC and the MKP, which is to be heard on Tuesday at the electoral court in Bloemfontein, will lead to riots on a scale akin to those in July 2021 — when Zuma was imprisoned for contempt of court — if the MKP loses.
The party’s youth leader, Bonginkosi Khanyile, has said publicly that there will be violence if the MKP is removed from the ballot, and eThekwini councillor Visvin Reddy (who previously belonged to the DA, ANC and Minority Front) has also said that an uprising would take place if the party was not allowed to register, but has since apologised for the remarks.
Asked about this, Ndhlela said: “We are comfortable we are going to win this [court] case.” He added that as he had stated publicly, the party would not partake in violence or incitement, in any situation, even if individual members have said otherwise. “There will be no violence or inciting to violence.”
In Tuesday’s case, the governing party wants the court to set aside the IEC’s decision to register MKP as a political party, which was done on 7 September last year. On 27 March, at the Durban high court, the parties will be arguing over trademark infringement of the name uMkhonto WeSizwe.
Running the streets: MK Party posters in KwaZulu-Natal. (Des Erasmus)
The MKP would launch its manifesto on 6 April, said Ndhlela, when its presidential candidate would also be announced.
“It’s the month that Solomon Mahlangu was hanged, the month of Chris Hani’s murder and the month of Jacob Zuma’s birthday,” he said. “We are looking at a venue that is not a stadium — an open park, a place where we can have music, artists, picnics. We aren’t into stadium politics.”
The venue also has to accommodate an expected 150 000 supporters, he added.
His reference to “stadium politics” comes in the wake of the country’s four major parties all holding large events. The Economic Freedom Fighters, ANC and Inkatha Freedom Party launched their election campaigns at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, attracting between 70 000 and 100 000 people, depending on the source.
The Democratic Alliance, which despite securing over 20% of the country’s national vote in previous elections is not known for large events, attracted approximately 20 000 to its campaign launch in Pretoria.