MK Party’s Jacob Zuma appointed Floyd Shivambu as the party’s secretary-general. Picture: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers
The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK Party) burst into the scene in December of 2023 and rocked the South African political landscape. However, the party which is headed by former president, Jacob Zuma, has been mired in controversy.
Most troubles of the party revolve around its internal politics and Zuma’s legal woes. Recently, former Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) member, Floyd Shivambu was appointed as the MK Party’s secretary-general.
On Sunday afternoon, Shivambu expressed his appreciation for being assigned the position.
“It is a great honour and brings a deep sense of humility to be shown and given utmost confidence by President Jacob Zuma to play an important role of secretary-general of the MK Party,” he said.
The politician assumed a position that has seen four predecessors in 11 months since its inception.
This move had mixed reactions from South Africans. One talking point among netizens is that the relatively young party has gone through numerous secretary-generals in a short span of time.
“8 months old, already appointed 6 secretary generals. Red flags,” reacted an X (Twitter) user.
In response to this, another individual questioned why they were surprised because in the days of his presidency, Zuma was notorious for announcing cabinet reshuffling at midnight.
Conversely, another person on the microblogging platform saw this as a positive direction for the party. “MK Party won here, Floyd Shivambu is a key to a better future.”
Adding to the conversation, another person asked: “Who would have thought that Floyd Shivambu would be more likely to be the South African president than Julius Malema? Floyd is probably closer to being SA president than Malema ever has been. All this changed in a matter on two months. Life is interesting.”
However, a different person shared the opinion that Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, the EFF Commissar who has a PhD must be disappointed to be left in the shadows.
“PhD holding Mbuyiseni Ndlozi watching Floyd Shivambu becomes a national celebration while Malema only sees him as a choir leader and an errand boy,” they wrote.
IOL