The MK Party is set to rejig its list of candidates to the National Assembly to open the door for Floyd Shivambu to make a return to parliament.
This comes after the party led by former president Jacob Zuma on Tuesday axed Shivambu as its secretary-general over his trip to Malawi in April, where he visited the fugitive prophet Shepherd Bushiri.
The MK Party’s highest decision-making body announced that Shivambu would be redeployed to the National Assembly after he was “counselled” over his “error” of visiting Bushiri, a fugitive from South African justice, which they said was not consistent with their party’s constitution.
The redeployment of Shivambu to parliament came at an opportune moment for the former EFF deputy president as party bosses now have the chance to chop and change candidate lists submitted to and approved by the IEC ahead of last year’s general election.
The first window for parties to changes their list of candidates opens on June 6 and closes on June 12, which means the MK Party is due to bump off certain candidates to accommodate Shivambu.
Shivambu had not been on the MK Party’s candidates list for the 2024 election as he was still with the EFF at the time.
But party insiders have indicated that the decision by the party's top leaders was a “long time coming”.
They said that the decision to redeploy Shivambu to parliament was a compromise that was decided by the national office bearers to shield him from further embarrassment as others wanted him to be retained as an ordinary member without deployment.
They also hinted that he was likely to face a tough time in the MK Party caucus as he apparently does not see eye to eye with party deputy president John Hlophe.
Insiders claim the relationship between the two disintegrated when Hlophe was forced to read a speech which had been purportedly sanctioned by Zuma during the debate on the state of the nation. However, Hlophe would later be made aware that he was misled.
We know it's not the Malawi trip. Duduzile doesn't want him. They concocted story is that he stole money, but what really made him the enemy was when he started investigating what happened to the money. That is where his problems started
— Insider linked to Jacob Zuma's circle
“I don't see that he will last there, considering that the leader of our parliamentary caucus is Hlophe. Hlophe doesn't exactly like Floyd. It's going to be tough for Floyd to take any position of authority in parliament,” a party leader said.
The decision to fire Shivambu came after the party's top officials met this week for what is said to have been a meeting dominated by the debate over Shivambu's future.
MK Party deputy chairperson Nkosinathi Nhleko said the party was “left with no other option”.
“After lengthy discussions and inputs from the national officials it was concluded that the actions by the secretary-general were against the spirit and the prescripts of the party constitution.”
Nhleko said the MK Party and its leadership had been approached by members of various sectors of civil society taking due consideration of the gravity of this matter.
But insiders said Shivambu — likely to assume the backbenches in parliament — will have to contend with a caucus that doesn't like him.
“Duduzile is part of that caucus, and she will make life very difficult for him. He has no friends in parliament or none that I know of. He has also lost credibility. No-one will respect him. The people he was giving instructions to, who did not like his decisions and even the way he led the party, are now gunning for him,” they said.
Zuma's daughter Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla and Shivambu have been embroiled in several public spats since he joined the party last year.
Another insider who is closely linked to Zuma's circle accused Shivambu of having been incompetent as the party secretary-general.
They said Shivambu had failed to convene meetings of the national high command, claiming that the recent meeting by the party's top structure was due to protests from party leaders.
“I think if it were just the Malawi trip it would be forgiven, but what irritated some people is that he stood by his decision to attend that church, and he was even wearing party colours. Floyd is arrogant, and he was even arrogant to Zuma.”
The insider added Shivambu had been on Zuma's radar after several top leaders raised their frustrations. They said Shivambu has made enemies in the KwaZulu-Natal caucus, in the party and in parliament.
“I think Floyd has potential, but for how long can we say someone has potential? He thought he was the most important thing to ever happen in South African politics. [MK Party chief whip] Colleen Makhubela will outshine him in parliament, she is strong.
“We know it's not the Malawi trip. Duduzile doesn't want him. They concocted story is that he stole money, but what really made him the enemy was when he started investigating what happened to the money. That is where his problems started.
“I don't think uBaba wanted to fire Floyd, but there was too much pressure. Floyd is competent to some degree, but what made him easy to fire is his arrogance. If you observe one thing about the Zuma family, they are humble people, so that has been irritating many people. He has alienated many people.”
They added that the divisions between those who had founded the party and those who came with Shivambu from the EFF had also formed part of the problem with the party's top leaders.
During a media briefing Shivambu expressed gratitude to Zuma, saying his role had been an invaluable and humbling experience.
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