Zuma Considers Legal Action Against ANC Over Expulsion
Jacob Zuma, leader of the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), is reportedly mulling legal action against his former party, the ANC, after his attempt to overturn his expulsion failed.
The ANC’s National Disciplinary Committee of Appeal (NDCA) upheld the decision of the National Disciplinary Committee, confirming Zuma’s permanent expulsion from the party.
Zuma, who joined the ANC at the age of 16 and served as South Africa’s president from 2007 to 2017, was expelled from the party in July. Zuma’s brother, Khanya Zuma, said:
My brother is fighting for the party he worked so hard for not to be destroyed. I don’t know whether he is going to take the party to court because we have not spoken about this matter since after his appeal was unsuccessful.
Khanya claimed to have been a member of the ANC before leaving the party and joining MKP following Zuma’s endorsement of the party in December last year.
Khanya, who also lives in Nkandla, north of KwaZulu-Natal, said:
What I know is that Msholozi (Zuma’s clan name) will fight right to the end to make sure the sellout in the ANC doesn’t lead the party that he worked so hard for from his young age until recently.
A close ally of Zuma exclusively told the Daily News that he plans to take legal action against the ANC, led by his rival President Cyril Ramaphosa, following his permanent expulsion from the party.
The Zuma ally, who did not want to be named, was quoted as saying:
Zuma is going to exploit all the avenues, including the legal route, to retain his ANC membership. He is planning to fight his expulsion in court where Cyril Ramaphosa is likely to be cited as the first respondent in court documents.
Zuma is trying to rescue the ANC from the clutches of the people who are bent on destroying the ANC.
Political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe argued that Zuma’s intimation about wanting to remain in the ANC serves to cast doubt on the current ANC leadership. Added Prof Seepe:
He forces ANC members to compare him against the current prepaid leadership. He does this knowing that people’s material conditions have worsened under Ramaphosa.
Despite being led supposedly by a billionaire, the ANC had repeatedly failed to pay the salaries of its members.
Yes, this matter appears to have been temporarily resolved, but it is something that happened under Ramaphosa.
Secondly, he is also keeping the ANC busy while his party is busy mobilising on the ground. The third aspect is raising the possibility of black unity beyond party lines. This opens doors for its recruitment of disgruntled ANC members.
However, political analyst Dr Ongama Mtika believes that Zuma reflects somebody who lives in denialism. Said Dr Mtika:
He has founded a party that is against the ANC and this is not constitutional within the context of the ANC.
Any kingdom that is divided within itself is going to fall apart, and so the ANC has been falling apart in the democratic period because of internal divisions.
Zuma’s formation of the MK Party shows that enterprise is chief of all the divisions that have taken place in the ANC.
The challenge with him (Zuma) continuing to fight to remain a member of the ANC is an illogical thing.
Zuma’s expulsion from the ANC followed his active promotion of MKP, a move that ANC leaders, including Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula, have linked to the party’s dramatic decline in the May 29 elections.
In those elections, the ANC’s national vote share plummeted from a dominant 58% to a mere 40%. Meanwhile, the MKP surged, securing 14% of the national vote and an impressive 45% in KwaZulu-Natal, making it the largest party in the province.
More: Pindula News
