Former president Jacob Zuma’s daughter Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla could finally emerge as a career politician, but even if she does not, his MK Party is unlikely to be affected by his latest setback.
Party insiders will say only that Zuma-Sambudla, as a senior party leader, is as suitable as other senior members to lead the party in the National Assembly. But analysts and commentators have tipped her as the one to watch, with the party rethinking its parliamentary strategy. This is after the Constitutional Court ruled on Monday that the former president’s conviction and sentence for contempt of court mean he is ineligible to stand for parliament.
Political commentator Makhosini Mgitywa suggests that with the party’s theoretical founder, Jabulani Khumalo, politically dead after falling out with Zuma, Zuma-Sambudla is best placed to fill the gap left by her father’s unavailability. Beyond being Zuma’s daughter, she has, over the years, built a following and a political voice.
“She shows the making of a great politician. She can stand and argue her point strongly,” says Mgitywa, who adds that her relative youth (she turned 42 this week) means she can appeal to young voters and be a threat to the likes of EFF leader Julius Malema, 43, and Build One South Africa leader Mmusi Maimane, who turns 44 in June.
This month she stepped in to address a party rally in Wentworth, KwaZulu-Natal, after her father failed to show, citing security concerns.
University of KwaZulu-Natal political analyst Belinda Johnson says: “I believe that Zuma has definitely been trying to cast Duduzile as heir apparent. This is a risky strategy because of her gender and age. While her surname might work in her favour, there are other factors that might make it difficult for her to resonate with MK supporters. For example, she is apparently not fluent in Zulu. I believe they have had to hire a translator for her at least once. For a party whose core base is Zulu speakers, the optics are not too good.”
(Zuma-Sambudla and her twin brother, Duduzane, were born in Mozambique in 1982 while their father was in exile and were brought up there.)
She shows the making of a great politician. She can stand and argue her point strongly
— Makhosini Mgitywa
With Khumalo having publicly described Zuma-Sambudla as impethu (a worm), implying that she was working herself into the leadership, Johnson says it remains to be seen if she will be acceptable to the older members, “but she does resonate with the youth league”.
As for the Constitutional Court ruling, the party has taken it in its stride.
“We were expecting this,” says a party insider. “We have always known that the courts hate president Zuma, so we are not surprised at all. We are just happy they did not decide to remove him as the face of the party. We know from our own polling that the people love and believe in president Zuma. He is our drawcard.
“We have always believed we should change this country’s constitution and make it a parliamentary democracy instead of a constitutional democracy. This judgment shows why we need to do that urgently. We cannot continue to be governed by people hiding behind red or green robes [judges] when our people have elected those they want to be governed by. The ruling means we can now canvass other people who share the sentiment that we must change the constitution. We hope that others will now see what we have been saying about being ruled by people we did not vote for.”
Johnson says the party is likely to use the court’s decision as a new mobilising strategy that could work in its favour.
“They can use it to elicit further sympathy from the supporters for Zuma, and as an example of why MK would like to overturn the current system of laws in the country. This court decision could result in an increase in support,” says Johnson.
The party is expected to meet to discuss who would lead it in parliament. The party insider says that person will be chosen with the understanding that they will be “managing the transition of getting Zuma back to parliament”.
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