Former president Jacob Zuma. Picture: Michel Bega
The Umkhonto WeSizwe (MK) party said it will be boycotting President-elect Cyril Ramaphosa’s inauguration.
Ramaphosa will be inaugurated for his second term under the new government of national unity (GN) on Wednesday at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, where Chief Justice Raymond Zondo will swear him in.
While at least 18 heads of state are expected to attend Ramaphosa’s inauguration, there will be an absence from former president Jacob Zuma’s MK party.
MK party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said the “official opposition of South Africa will not participate in the farcical inauguration of Cyril Ramaphosa as the puppet DA-sponsored president tomorrow.”
“We refuse to join in the spitting of the graves of those who died for this freedom by attending the symbolic wedding ceremony of a house negro called Ramaphosa with the slave master, Hellen Zille.
“Previously, the Umkhonto WeSizwe party deliberately boycotted the first sitting of the National Assembly, where members of the unholy, racist DA-ANC coalition voted for each other, betraying our struggle for total freedom and land repossession. Ramaphosa’s “presidency” is the result of a sellout deal signed by Fikile Mbalula and Helen Zille last week, as well as a rigged and illegal election marked by massive vote rigging and other manipulations by the IEC, through Janet Love, and other state institutions,” Ndhlela said.
Ndhlela has called on others to also boycott Ramaphosa’s inauguration.
“We call on all those who cherish true freedom, real democracy, and our current constitution to distance themselves, physically or emotionally, from being forced to celebrate their continued oppression under the guise of the DA-ANC coalition.
“The ANC has sold its soul to the DA to secure the position of President for Ramaphosa. Clearly, positions matter more to the ANC than the well-being of our people. The Umkhonto WeSizwe party vows to use all legal means at our disposal to expose, fight, and destroy the incoming illegitimate regime of Ramaphosa, Steenhuisen, and (Pieter) Groenewald. The time is now for all progressive forces to unite against the reintroduction of apartheid and colonialism,” Ndhlela said.
On Sunday, Zuma said during a media briefing that there was no GNU in South Africa.
“We need to educate our people that there is no government of national unity in South Africa. There is a white-led, unholy alliance between the DA and the ANC of Ramaphosa. It is sponsored by big business and it is for the benefit of the markets and not the people. It must be crushed before it finds its fee.”
Zuma claimed the 2024 election has also resulted in the “consolidation of right-wing forces and reactionary forces. He said the MK party is approaching the International Court over their vote-rigging claims. He claimed “the judges in South Africa make judgments according to their thinking, not facts.”
Zuma also announced the party will participate in the legislative arm of the state, along with the Progress Caucus, which includes the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Al Jama-ah, Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC), United African Transformation, and United Democratic Movement (UDM).
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