Zuma's 'guerrilla' formation of MK Party has led to leadership instability - Magasela Mzobe
The MKP was launched in Soweto in December 2023 and stunned the political establishment by emerging as the third-largest party nationally in the 2024 general elections.
Image: Itumeleng English/ Independent Media
MK Party Head of the Presidency, Magasela Mzobe, said the party was not formed through consultation, policy workshops or internal consensus, but was built “in a guerrilla warfare style”.
This may be reason why there was leadership instability, he said.
Speaking in an interview with the SABC on Thursday, Mzobe said former President Jacob Zuma did not establish the MKP like conventional political parties, where structures were carefully assembled and roles clearly defined before going to the polls.
“President Zuma did not form MKP, like all other political parties, where you call people, share ideas, build up into the formation of the organisation,” Mzobe said.
“He did it in some guerrilla warfare style. They just woke up, South Africans were hearing about a new political party, six months, five months into elections, there's no time to build an organisation.”
The MKP was launched in Soweto in December 2023 and stunned the political establishment by emerging as the third-largest party nationally in the 2024 general elections.
It secured 45% of the vote in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), became the official opposition in Mpumalanga and expanded its influence in Gauteng.
But the party’s rapid ascent has been accompanied by turbulence at the top.
Since its formation, the MKP has had five secretary generals — Floyd Shivambu, Arthur Zwane, Sihle Ngubane, Sfiso Maseko and Thanduxolo Dyodo — fuelling questions about internal stability and leadership depth.
Dr Bongani Mncwango is the current secretary-general of the MKP
Mzobe said the rush to contest elections left little time to assess capacity or build durable structures.
“You want people to go and vote, you've got no time to deal with all other dynamics of identifying capacity,” he said, adding that the party was now forced to “build an organisation backward” while carrying the responsibilities of a major opposition party.
He noted that 99% of MKP MPs are new to formal politics, drawn from professions such as law, engineering and medicine.
“The organisation was left without its best cadres, because all of them had to be deployed in parliament and legislature,” Mzobe said.
Despite the instability, Mzobe said he was confident the current leadership would steady the party ahead of the next local government elections.
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