MK party secretary-general Floyd Shivambu. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/ The Citizen
Newly appointed MK party secretary-general Floyd Shivambu has defended his party’s decision to forgo an elective conference, affirming that former president Jacob Zuma will continue to lead the organisation.
The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party has faced criticism for not establishing democratically elected leadership structures, as it allows Zuma full authority to appoint leaders at all levels until a conference is held.
Zuma’s influence within the MK party has been evident through the secretary-general role, which has experienced four removals and resignations in the party’s first year of existence.
Shivambu, initially appointed as national organiser when he joined the Zuma-led formation in August, now assumes the position of secretary-general.
In a recent interview with SABC News, Shivambu emphasised that the MK Party has no plans to hold an elective conference in the near future.
He stated that the party would continue to operate under Zuma’s “ideological and political guidance”.
“If you want to base that organisation on elective conferences, you are going to make it vulnerable and accessible to factional politics.
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“But also the influence of money that is going to come from wrong sources to influence its direction and even capture it for wrong purposes.”
“We are not thinking about the departure of president Zuma because he’s not about to depart now. He is still strong; he is giving us political guidance,” the MK party secretary-general said.
Shivambu stated that once the MK party has achieved “full traction” and established a presence in all voting districts, wards, sub-regions, regions, and provinces, the party may reconsider its stance on holding elective conferences.
“Once it has been able to overcome some of its immediate challenges, perhaps in hindsight or maybe later on we will then be able to reflect as to what we do we differently.
“How do we constitute the processes of selecting leadership or do we assign that responsibility to someone else? But that will happen as and when we come across the bridge.
“We are not obsessed about that particular aspect, the immediate task that we have now which is defined in the [MK party’s] constitution, is to build the presence of the organisation in all corners of South Africa.”
Shivambu added that the decision to appoint a national organiser will be made soon.
“The decision on the national organiser has not yet been taken.
“The leadership collective is still going to make reflections on that and we will identify from amongst members of uMkhonto weSizwe as to who will play the role of national organiser.”
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