Floyd Shivambu denies MK Party rift, calls its critics 'faceless cowards'

MK Party secretary-general Floyd Shivambu remains adamant that there are no internal divisions within the party amid reports of factionalism in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature and public criticism of his leadership by members of the organisation.

“MK Party is the most united organisation in South Africa ... As far as we are concerned we’ve got a solid, united leadership that is reading from the same hymn book.”

However, the party has been plagued by a number of internal rifts in the KZN legislature, leading to a number of suspensions including that of former chief whip Kwazi Mbanjwa as well as resignations of leaders like induna Phumlani Mfeka, a founding member of the party.

These challenges have coincided with a number of incidents in which members have openly questioned Shivambu’s authority and leadership on public platforms, including MP Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla and the party’s first ward councillor Thabiso Molefe.

Shivambu acknowledged that there had been “robust engagements” that are “part of any growing organisation” but denied that there had been any dissenting views expressed by its members at provincial or national level — at least not formally.

“It happens that when the organisation is growing there will be different perspectives on the pace, the form and content of its growth,” he said. “Thus far there is no-one who has come to the formal structures of the organisation, in any meeting, to say they have issues about the direction of the organisation. We also have never received any memorandum that expresses any concern about the leadership of the party.”

Shivambu was speaking at the Coastlands Hotel in Durban, where the party held its quarterly national high command meeting.

He reiterated that the party was united and challenged the “anonymous elements” who have questioned the suitability of leadership publicly to express those views in party meetings.

“The people who are trying to say that are faceless, cowards who have never said that in any meeting g of the MK ... If we receive that we will be able to entertain it. We only deal with issues that are official, not social media gimmicks.”

Meanwhile, Shivambu distanced the party from any engagements with the ANC over the national budget processes.

He said he was aware that the ANC had raised the issue at the chief whips forum but there had not been any bilateral engagements between the two parties.

He maintained that the party would not entertain discussions that included VAT increases if the ANC was to approach them.

“We are never going to agree on the increase of VAT even by 0.1% (because) we think that poor people are going to be the most affected. Rich people do not have price sensitivity, they buy anything for whatever price but poor people are sensitive to the little amounts of money which they earn,” he said.

“There’s several alternatives which our public representatives have presented that should constitute the alternate to increasing VAT in South Africa's budget framework and I think that before the ANC approaches us, they should’ve made a public announcement already that there's not going to be any VAT increase. That is the only way.”

He denied that the party would entertain the idea of co-governing with the ANC or joining the GNU.

“We’re challenging the legitimacy of the electoral outcomes of 2024, the outcomes of that might take us to government, but also if that doesn't happen, we are consolidating the ground so that come 2026 and 2029 MKP achieves the decisive victory in the elections and that is what we're focusing on.

“We want to govern South Africa, and we will govern as MKP alone without a coalition with right-wing forces or former liberation movements that have sold out their agenda for real and thorough emancipation and freedom of our people.”

The party is holding its first quarterly meeting of its highest decision-making body of the year.

Shivambu said there was a rapid growth in support all over the country, including in provinces outside KZN, Gauteng and Mpumalanga where the party garnered over 80% of its total in the 2024 general elections.

This is also the first meeting that contains the party's women’s and youth leagues as well as its student movement.

“We have now defined the journey of how we constitute structures in the Western, Northern and Eastern Capes which are the provinces without leadership structures but have memberships. Otherwise, we are on the correct path in terms of how we are dealing with these issues.”

The party will communicate the decisions of its national high command in a press conference next week.

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