I'd speak against untouchables, people who take drugs and tweet at night: Shivambu

Former MK Party secretary-general Floyd Shivambu has indirectly fired back at party leader Jacob Zuma and his daughter Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, asserting his ability to speak out against wrongdoing in the party.

Shivambu was recently fired as secretary-general after visiting fugitive from justice pastor Shepherd Bushiri in Malawi.

Briefing the media on Thursday, Shivambu said he was not afraid of the “untouchables” and “people who do drugs and tweet at night” insulting him.

“All the issues I had at MK Party, I raised them internally, even against all odds,” he said. “If there was an opportunity to raise issues about wrongdoings, I would speak and speak clearly against the untouchables there — people who take drugs, tweet at night, and insult us. We confront them and say, 'What is this about?' We never tiptoe around anyone; we always protect principles on how we deal with issues.”

Shivambu's remarks come after a series of public spats with Zuma-Sambudla and Zuma's criticism of his actions.

In February, Zuma-Sambudla posted scathing tweets about Shivambu in the middle of the night, discrediting Shivambu's leadership.

“Floyd, I’m not scared of you. Tell Your minions to f*** off, bloody mafikizolos [newbies],” Zuma-Sambudla said on X. “F** you, Floyd,” another tweet read. She said Shivambu was the worst thing that had happened to the party.

Early this week Zuma took a firm stance against undisciplined members, making reference to several changes in leadership the party has had, particularly the secretary-general position.

“We've had seven secretaries-general because we're not here to play games. We don't care how great you are, how loved you are, we don't care. We talk about our party,” Zuma said.

Despite that, Shivambu said he would never be afraid to speak out in the party.

“Go to the corners in the ANC, and they will tell you that 'Ramaphosa is nonsense and misleading us,’ but they won’t tell him. Go to EFF members, and they will share their own characterisation of their leader and what is happening there, but they don’t have the courage to tell him. The same goes for MK, and we can’t have a political culture like that. When we raise issues internally, you don’t have to gossip about them anywhere.”

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