Newly appointed uMkhonto weSizwe party (MK) general Floyd Shivambu. Picture: X/@FloydShivambu
Newly appointed uMkhonto weSizwe party (MKP) secretary-general Floyd Shivambu says there are more important issues to discuss than receiving congratulatory messages from Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party leader Julius Malema.
MKP leader Jacob Zuma appointed Shivambu as secretary-general on Sunday.
MKP head of presidency Magasela Mzobe announced that Shivambu would take over from Dr Sifiso Maseko, the former secretary-general who resigned last month.
The party said Shivambu’s appointment received the full backing from Zuma and its national leadership.
Asked about when last he spoke to Malema, Shivambu side-swiped the question.
“I honestly don’t think it’s part of what our discussion should be. I am coming to talk here about uMkhonto weSizwe. I am not here to discuss those things.
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“We are talking to millions of South Africans and want to talk about personal relations of people. That is not really a major issue,” Shivambu fired back.
Shivambu dismissed claims that his appointment was a reward for bringing former EFF members to the MKP.
“I don’t think it will be correct to claim that I am the one who brought them. They joined uMkhonto weSizwe by themselves out of their own political consciousness, out of their own appreciation that they believe that uMkhonto weSizwe will play an important role and that they will make the necessary contribution.
“It is not only legal minds that president Zuma is assembling in the MK party. There are brilliant minds in the collective of MK party.”
Shivambu joined the MKP in August after leaving the EFF.
His appointment as secretary-general comes just days after former EFF national chairperson Dali Mpofu joined the MKP.
Mpofu said he was among those who founded the MKP in 2023 and believes the MK party is the only “vehicle to achieve unity and emancipation”.
Last week, EFF Member of Parliament (MP) Carl Niehaus backed Malema’s statement on not being deterred by members who have defected to the MK party.
“Thank you my CIC, President Julius S Malema, we will follow your clear and principled leadership. Let the betrayers leave, we are better off without them. I for one am going nowhere. I have made a clear, and unequivocal choice for the EFF South Africa. The EFF is the only revolutionary home I can have.”
In a post on X, Malema indicated he is unmoved by Mpofu’s decision to quit the red berets, and anticipates that other senior leaders will soon be leaving.
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