It’s Schrodinger’s politics — at once true and not at all. At least, that’s the political game the MK Party seems to excel at.
Take a report in the Sunday Times this weekend. Party chief whip Sihle Ngubane told the publication that MK has never pushed for Cyril Ramaphosa to be turfed from the ANC. It was the ANC, he said, “that publicised the narrative that we demanded the removal of their president. We never said that.”
It’s an exaggeration of the porky kind. Rewind two-odd months and you’ve got MK spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela telling international broadcaster VOA: “We will not engage in any discussion [with the ANC] ... as long as they have Cyril Ramaphosa at the helm.”
Here’s Ndhlela in late May: “We will engage with the ANC, but we will not engage with the ANC of Ramaphosa.” And party loud hailer Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, talking about MK’s willingness to engage with the ANC, but “definitely not the ANC of Ramaphosa”.
It’s not the only example of outlandish cognitive dissonance. There was that time MK said it wouldn’t send its members to parliament until its legal challenge to the election results had been heard — yet mere days later its MPs were lined up to be sworn in. And there’s the party withdrawing its case of vote-rigging in the May 29 election while still doggedly asserting electoral fraud (in the absence of any supporting evidence).
There’s the second going of former secretary-general Arthur Zwane. He claimed he tendered his resignation in July; Zuma insisted he fired him. Then Zuma apparently backtracked, refusing to accept the contested resignation. Now Zuma’s done another 180, having fired Zwane again with reference to his previous “relinquishing” of his former lackey. The CCMA would have a field day.
Then there’s the claim, made last week, that party lists had been sabotaged by malicious actors “who populated the parliamentary lists with friends, family members and neighbours”, Ndhlela told TimesLIVE. Which sounds about on brand for MK. They also apparently erred by putting Zuma at the top of the list (he was supposed to be brought in later by bumping some hapless backbencher from his seat).
Only, Zuma himself was going to sit with his executive to “decide who the party will take to parliament”, Ngubane told the Sowetan in May. So the otherwise omniscient Zuma either had the wool pulled over his eyes by wily nepotistic rogues, or the claim to sabotage is a pretence for political machinations.
Entirely coincidentally, this is all playing out as the party has fired at least 15 of its members who are in parliament, meaning they lose their seats in the National Assembly. By some miracle, those on the voluminous reserve list are unavailable to fill the vacancies, leaving the MK list “depleted” and in need of supplementation. Good thing, then, that the Saxonwold Shebeen’s Brian Molefe, axed Prasa CEO and alleged brick-thrower Lucky Montana and Siyabonga “it wasn’t me” Gama are apparently waiting in the wings.
The new-new list features “people who should have been there in the first place”, Ndhlela says. State capture be damned.
MK swears that the now-jobless MPs weren’t blindsided — that reports of their expulsion are “spurious” and “misleading”; “fake news” even. It says they’d been told before they were sworn in that they would be ousted; they stubbornly went ahead and took up their seats in parliament anyway. Only, at least some of the MPs reportedly claim they first found out they’d lost their seats when they received notification from parliament. Make of that what you will.
It’s not the first time the party has supplemented lists. There’s disgraced former judge John Hlophe who, through a prodigious turn of events, found himself leading the official opposition in parliament despite not appearing on any of the original lists. Sleight of political hand, if you will?
The latest ructions speak to a party that’s riven by paranoia. Ndhlela admitted as much to News24 this week, telling the publication that MK is “dealing with a lot of infiltration”. This, in response to queries from regional leaders concerned about the lack of formal structures allowing for organisation of the party. Also clear is the air of authoritarianism in the party, with the regional co-ordinators apparently deferentially explaining that they were “not questioning” their political overlords. Throw in the party purges, and that the truth no longer exists when it becomes inconvenient, and you’ve got all the makings of a home-grown Stalinist despotism.
Importantly, though, the latest list switcheroo suggests a party with little respect for the millions of South Africans who voted for it. Shuffling lists and including new names makes a mockery of the party list system. South African voters don’t cast their ballots for individuals; they vote for the party — for the lists of prospective legislators drawn up in advance of elections. To substitute those lists as MK has done could be construed as contempt for its constituency. It’s a cynical wielding of power.
It’s tempting to write MK off as an organisationally half-baked project that hit the jackpot — an electoral anomaly that can be safely ignored. But this is the third-biggest political party in the country; it is the official opposition. It needs to be called out for its indifference to its constituency, for its abject failure to follow due political process, and for its cavalier disregard for the truth.
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