Jacob Zuma. Picture: Itumeleng English/ Independent Newspapers
Durban — After abruptly axing Arthur Zwane, the secretary-general of the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), for a second time, party leader Jacob Zuma is now hunting down those who were planning to destabilise the party.
In a letter dated July 31, Zuma told Zwane he had been sacked for allegedly “misleading” the party without giving more details.
“I refer to the letter I wrote to you on June 28 in which I, Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, as president of the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, expressed my decision to relieve you from the position of secretary-general of the party.
“I therefore reconfirm my earlier decision to you and thus expect you to co-operate fully with my decision and desist from continuing to serve in this capacity.
“Furthermore, owing to your conduct of misleading the party, I reserve the right to expel you from the party with immediate effect,” the letter read.
Zwane’s fate for now is in the hands of Zuma, who will decide if he expels him or retains him as an ordinary party member.
The Daily News understands that Zuma has roped in selected party leaders as he rounds up MKP members bent on destabilising the party, the official opposition party in the National Assembly.
This was confirmed by Dr Kwazi Mbanjwa, an MKP MPL and former adviser to Zuma during his tenure as state president.
In an interview with the Daily News, Mbanjwa said: “Yes, there are many people who have infiltrated the party. But we are going to expose them one by one.
“They were sent to destabilise our party after we have done so much great work.”
Without mentioning names, he said the “infiltrators” included people in positions of authority as well as ordinary members.
“But I can reassure our loyal supporters that we will unmask them, and they will be shown the door,” Mbanjwa said.
He said Zwane was not the only leader who had suffered the wrath of the MKP leadership, saying he was sacked along with other leaders.
“More people will be sent packing in the coming days,” said Mbanjwa.
Zwane was sacked alongside the deputy secretary-general and chief of staff, Thulani Shongwe, who was reduced to an ordinary member of the party.
As with Zwane, his future in the party will be decided by Zuma.
Speaking to journalists outside the Durban High Court on Thursday, party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela did not mince his words, claiming that some MKP members were “bought” to sow division in the new party.
“You have seen what happened leading up to elections. People were being bought.
“We don’t want to have the same problems,” said Ndhlela.
“That’s why we need to take our time and ensure every single person that forms part of even a branch, because that is where the problem starts.
Ndhlela added: “The branches are bought, and before you know it, they are then influenced to nominate their president of their own. You find that person himself has been influenced by outside individuals, of which you have seen.”
He concluded: “We’ve seen rallies of ours which were paid for by the ANC people. “We don’t want those tendencies of the ANC here. That’s why we are going to take our time, and we are not going to be put under pressure to set up structures and actually go to the elective conference.”
Zwane’s sacking comes less than a month after he was reinstated to the position after being fired earlier last month, with the party’s treasurer-general Danisa Zulu. Zwane replaced former secretary-general Sihle Ngubane, who was deployed to Parliament.
Three weeks after being named the party’s secretary-general in June, Zwane resigned, citing an inability to handle the workload, but Zuma allegedly rejected his resignation.
“In the last two weeks, I have realised that the volume of work in my office is huge and beyond my limits, especially because I have other competing business interests that I’m pursuing,” his letter read.
But it was later revealed that Zwane had only resigned because he was expelled from the party, and not because of other competing business interests as he claimed.
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