Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla has been ordered to apologise to party secretary-general Floyd Shivambu following her insulting posts on X, formerly Twitter.
Cape Town - In an escalating political drama within the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), party leader Jacob Zuma has taken decisive action to mend a rift between his daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, and party secretary-general Floyd Shivambu.
Zuma has instructed his daughter to immediately apologise to Shivambu following a series of insults on X (formerly Twitter) or face expulsion.
The intervention comes on the heels of a series of public spats that have highlighted deeper fractures within the fledgling political organisation.
Zuma also ordered Zuma-Sambudla to publicly apologise to Shivambu, the party president, members, supporters, and all the people of South Africa.
In some of her scathing tweets, Shivambu said: "You are the worst thing that has happened to the MK Party".
She followed this with another thinly veiled jab.
“Commanders of 16 December 2023, The Real Co-Founders of the MK… I hear you, Loud and Clear. I stand with you 100 percent. I will Not Forsake You.”
This was seen as an attack on Shivambu, who joined the party in August after the May elections following his exit from the EFF, where he served as deputy president. The MKP was formed on 16 December 2023.
In a statement issued after midnight, Zuma warned Zuma-Sambudla that if she failed to comply with the directive, this would result in immediate consequences, including the termination of her membership.
“uMkhonto weSizwe Party is a movement of the people, grounded in maximum discipline and strict adherence to the Disciplinary Code of Conduct. No member, regardless of position, is above the Constitution of uMkhonto weSizwe,” Zuma said.
A fissure is seemingly forming in the party as opposing views were shared on Elon Musk-owned micro-blogging platform.
An account purporting to be MK Party's Info Centre responded to Zuma-Sambudla, saying that everyone in the organisation is equal.
It remains to be seen whether Zuma-Sambudla will heed her father's directive and apologise to Shivambu or whether this escalating feud will reshape the landscape of the MKP.