The leadership style of the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK) party has been praised by political analysts.
They have commended the party's approach to managing internal differences, especially after a series of internal restructuring and changes in the party's parliamentary deployees.
The May 29 general elections saw the MK party disrupt South Africa’s political landscape, and win 46% of the vote in KwaZulu-Natal to become the third-largest party nationally after winning 14.5% of the vote and garnering 58 seats in the National Assembly.
In Mpumalanga, the party became the official opposition, garnering a total of nine seats in the 51-seat legislature.
Gauteng, one of the country's hotly contested provinces, saw the MK party becoming the fourth-largest party, with at least eight seats in the 80-seat legislature.
The party’s impressive performance also came with its own challenges following some changes in the leadership and party employees to parliament.
Sometimes these led to disgruntled members taking the party and the National Assembly to the Western Cape High Court to challenge their dismissals as MPs. It was an unsuccessful urgent court bid by 10 expelled MPs of the MK party who sought to halt their removal from Parliament.
“The formation of the MK party in late 2023, becoming the third biggest political party in South Africa after the elections, has disrupted the country’s political landscape but also invited internal problems that needed to be carefully managed,” said Independent political analyst and senior lecturer at the University of Limpopo, Dr Metji Makgoba.
He commended the party’s approach to handling internal disputes, commending the party for being “swift and decisive”.
“Their swift actions are commendable. If they make their decisions based on principled traditions of issue management, they should continue doing it. There is a wrong belief that democracy is an acceptable system of governance. That is a lie and the MK party should continue making decisions that benefit its growth.
“If they want to be autocratic and have guidelines for their processes, that is fine. Democratic processes have collapsed many parties and organisations. However, the main issue is that they may spend more time in the courts to defend their decisions if they are not allowed because there are no proper guidelines to tackle disputes.
“Internal battles were inevitable, because the MK party is made of comrades who could not find expression in other parties such as the African National Congress and the Economic Freedom Fighters. Some of these comrades are opportunistic and would always seem to infiltrate the party,” he said.
Weighing in on the list of the list of MK party which has become a subject of debate with some raising concern about the male-dominated MPs of the party, Makgoba said all political parties were male-dominated and this was a concern.
“This concern is very authentic and the MK party should address it. Having a gender balance is necessary to address the concerns that affect all people. If the party is intentional about being male-dominated, it would experience decline and would be limited in terms of its development.”
Makgoba stressed that women were capable and deserved to be in decision-making positions.
Zululand University-based political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe defended the party’s decision to remove some senior leaders from their positions, saying there was a possibility that some may have infiltrated the party to spy for the ANC.
“Any party does that. From time to time using its internal intelligence vets members to see whether they were still committed to the course. Understandably, the party’s detractors will try all machinations to frustrate its ambitions.
“This includes ensuring that it is infiltrated by agent provocateurs whose role ranges from creating internal conflict and bringing the party into disrepute. To ensure that the party does not get derailed from its mission, it would have to take strong measures against those of its members who may bring the party into disrepute,” said Seepe.
Speaking to reporters earlier this year at the national results operation centre in Midrand, ANC deputy secretary-general, Nomvula Mokonyane, expressed her shock at how the MK Party grew in such a small space of time, especially in KZN.
During that interview, Mokonyane admitted that the ANC had been pushed into a corner by the MK Party.
Former President Jacob Zuma-led party also left a dent in the EFF after recruiting the party’s second in command, Floyd Shivambu, who is now national organiser for the MK party.
Other parties such as the Democratic Alliance, which is in coalition with the ANC, swore to prevent both the MK party and the EFF from forming a coalition government.