Floyd Shivambu’s Malawi visit raises alarms over ties with fugitive Bushiri

Floyd Shivambu is not an elected representative in parliament. He does not hold any official office in the public service.

He is the secretary-general of this country’s third-biggest party in parliament, appointed to that position by the party leader and founder, former president Jacob Zuma.

It will be argued by those who see nothing wrong with his travelling to Malawi to attend church at Shepherd Bushiri’s Enlightened Christian Gathering that where he chooses to worship should not matter to anyone but himself.

But that is an extremely superficial take on the actions of a senior leader in an opposition party.

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Association with a fugitive

Bushiri, the self-proclaimed prophet who introduced a beaming Shivambu to his church gathering, is a fugitive from justice in South Africa.

This country is currently attempting to get Bushiri back to face an array of charges including rape, fraud and contravening immigration laws, having fled the country while on bail.

In other words, a man who is uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party’s second-in-command left the country to go and knowingly associate with a fugitive in Malawi.

MK’s spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndlela was quick to issue a statement distancing the party from Shivambu’s actions. That they issued a statement is in itself an indictment of him.

Much has been said about the operational nature of MK in that its leader has chosen not to go with the standard political party system of getting the party and its structures to be determined by the people in the party.

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Party leadership under the microscope

The former president appoints and fires leaders in that party.

The people who are members of parliament were not elected to parliament after a democratic selection process, as is normally the case in other parties.

So people might be tempted to think that their leadership should not be under the same amount of scrutiny as those that openly flaunt their democratic natures.

But that would be setting the bar beyond low for organisations that operate in this country’s political landscape.

Shivambu is a former member of parliament who spent 10 years crafting the very laws that Bushiri is raising his middle finger to.

He also spends his time building an organisation that gets its members elected to offices that must uphold the very laws that Bushiri ran away from being held accountable to.

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Principles are optional in politics.

There is nothing illegal about a leader of the opposition visiting his place of worship where he chooses, but there is everything wrong with a leader who thinks it is okay to be publicly seen in the company of a fugitive from justice.

What’s next, entertaining the Gupta brothers in Dubai because it is not illegal? These days, being principled is not a value many politicians hold in high regard.

It has been shown here and in the United States that the highest political office in the land is not won by being principled.

And that is what Shivambu is saying to South Africans: “I’m not a man of principle and will associate with people running away from justice and there is nothing that anyone can do about it.”

Shivambu could be wrong to think the MK party will not do anything besides issuing a statement.

His spat with Duduzile Zuma a couple of months ago shows he is not welcome in the party. This act could be what some were waiting for to get rid of him.

He just gave them a stick to beat him with – unless this is his way of exiting on his terms.

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