Zuma’s MK party may become third-largest opposition in SA, says analyst

Political analyst Sanusha Naidoo says former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party may become the third-largest opposition party in the country.

With the final election results expected to be announced on Sunday, the MK party is performing strongly in the national and provincial elections, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal, where it garnered double the amount of ANC votes.

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Naidoo told 702 the MK party could become a significant player in South Africa’s political landscape, adding that it had been marginalised by other parties including the governing African National Congress, Zuma’s former political home.

New opposition

“When you look at the top five parties in order, the thing that’s interesting for me is that you’ve got this third, fourth and fifth place between MK, EFF and PA, but what’s really interesting is, there may be, if the trend continues, this interesting dynamic emerging where the MK will become the third largest opposition party in the country.”

While the MK party has made strong and significant strides in KZN, Naidoo believes the province has become less important to the ANC.

“In many ways, KZN was important to the ANC, but after the last elective conference, it seems to have become less important to the ANC. In fact, former president Jacob Zuma makes these statements.

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Tribalism

“When you listen to his interview, he had hinted and he’s very explicit about this idea that this is the party that has to reclaim what is supposed to be the kind of authenticity of the liberation struggle. So, this is not just about the ‘tribalism’ that Gwede Mantashe spoke about. But its also about a history of the nation, the annals of the people and how important they are to the history of the country,” Naidoo said.

On Thursday, Mantashe said he was surprised by the performance of the ANC in KZN as early numbers showed strong support for the MK party.

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