Inside the MK Party rally. Picture: Kamogelo Moichela / IOL
Scores of uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) supporters, mostly from KwaZulu-Natal, came in their numbers ahead of the party’s election manifesto launched at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto on Saturday.
The whole of Orlando East came to a standstill as the sea of black and green converged on the stadium ahead of Zuma’s much-anticipated address.
Party leader Jacob Zuma was due to unveil the party’s manifesto ahead of the national and provincial elections on May 29.
Speaking to The Star from the comfort of a Durban-based bus, Mandisa Mkhize from Durban said Zuma held the key to the country’s fortunes, having proved that he was the ideal leader during his time as state president under the ANC government from 2008 to 2017, when he was booted out by Cyril Ramaphosa as ANC president.
“I have travelled all the way from Durban to show my support for the MK Party under former president Jacob Zuma, who led us with integrity during his term as state resident.
“Some of us have houses and homes because of him. Right now, under the current ANC government, food prices have soared and jobs are hard to come by. So, we are saying we want to ensure that Zuma wins by a two-thirds majority,” she said.
Another KZN traveller, Bhekinkosi Ngcobo from Richards Bay, told The Star that if it had not been for Zuma, he and many others from his region would have gone with the IFP.
“To tell you the truth, we are here because of Jacob Zuma. We were leaving the ANC for the IFP, but when Zuma announced the formation of the MK Party, we decided to support him because he is a man to be trusted.
“We are fed up with the ANC, and many of us who are here are fed up with the ANC because our mayor, when he was supposed to address our grievances, told us that he would not waste his time with children. He literally called us children, and now we are going to show him and his ANC that we are not children,” Ngcobo said.
According to media reports, the party needed more than 600 buses to ensure that they filled the 37 000-capacity stadium, and judging by the number of supporters who came, this was achieved.
Nonhlanhla Mjwara from Chesterville, Durban, said that, as a young person, he saw Zuma as the only solution to the country’s increasing unemployment rate.
“Zuma is the only leader who can resolve the country’s youth unemployment rate. I came all the way from my ward to show my support to him and the rest of the MK Party,” she said.
The Star
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