‘Heroes can become villains’ – Mbalula on MK party after day at Electoral Court

ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula said the MK party’s use of the uMkhonto weSizwe name and symbology is a “deliberate attempt to sew confusion” and use the proud history of the party to lend credibility to “what is a blatantly counter-revolutionary agenda”.

This comes after a day at the Electoral Court on Tuesday, where the African National Congress is arguing the registration of their new opposition should be reviewed and declared unlawful.

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Mbalula said the ANC national executive committee has a responsibility to defend the integrity and heritage of the party.

“Today we are here at court in Mongaung to legally challenge the use of the name and symbols of uMkhonto weSizwe by a new party led by one of the former leaders of the African National Congress,” he said. “Indeed, heroes can become villains.”

‘Tactics of counter-revolution’ forces

Mbalula said it was a matter of historical record that the MK was a military wing of the ANC in the apartheid struggle, and it was an integral part of the history and heritage of the party.

“The formation of breakaway parties is part of the strategy and tactics of counter-revolution, whose goal is to stop or derail the national democratic revolution.

“Some of the tactics employed by counter-revolution include: divide and conquer, co-opt and corrupt, capture and weaken the democratic state and unleash violence and create instability.”

The SG said anti-transformation forces are converging into coalitions. These also encourage and fund rebel breakaway groupings, he said.

“It is very disturbing to note that some of the parties that masquerade as radical and have revolutionary-sounding rhetoric have common cause with right-wing forces—they all want to derail the national democratic revolution.”

He said the accumulation of these tactics aims to chip away at the support base of the ruling party.

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“In this way, those forming these parties are doing so at the behest of their counter-revolutionary masters who literally pay them to liquidate the ANC morally, politically and organisationally.

“All this flows from the old-age narrative suggesting that the ANC is too big, with a further argument that this in itself is not good for democracy.”

However, these attempts have failed, Mbalula said.

“What we will not tolerate is anyone stealing the assets of the organisation. The main reason why these forces want to liquidate the ANC politically and organisationally is because of the progressive stances the ANC has taken on both domestic and international matters.

‘Only because of Zuma’

Earlier in the day, the legal team of the MK party said the ANC’s approaching the court over its registration was a result of former president Jacob Zuma supporting the party.

During proceedings, IEC’s counsel, Advocate Terry Motau, argued that the ANC failed to challenge the registration of the MK party in the Electoral Court in time, so there was no jurisdiction.

Motau said the ANC unsuccessfully appealed with the IEC.

According to the lawyer, this should have been the end of the matter.

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Additional reporting by Molefe Seeletsa.