Zuma is on the path of recruiting top ANC leaders to dismantle his former party’s ‘stronghold on power’.
Patriotic Alliance leader and Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie has warned that only a united government of national unity (GNU) can stop a Jacob Zuma “tsunami”.
Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party has being making headlines due to the number of high-profile politicians joining the party.
Several political formations have also recently closed shop to join the MK party, including Colleen Makhubele’s South African Rainbow Alliance (Sara), the Xiluva Party of former Sedibeng mayor Bongani Baloyi, and Andile Mngxitama’s Black First Land First.
Watch Gayton McKenzie speaking about the ‘Zuma tsunami’
GAYTON MCKENZIE
We are in serious trouble. Jacob Zuma’s MK Party is going sweep all of us if we are not careful
I warned everyone about Zuma before May 29 elections. They didn’t listen.
I was proven right.
If we think Zuma was a tornado in May 29, wait for a Tsunami he is… pic.twitter.com/D3RRmV8QXk
— Constitution First 🇿🇦 (@Constitution_94) October 28, 2024
Last week, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP and former public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane and former ANC member and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) premier Willies Mchunu joined Zuma’s party and were presented as key figures in “advancing” the MK party’s mission to “promote accountability and integrity in governance.” Former EFF deputy president has also joined the MK party.
‘Government in trouble’
McKenzie said “we [the government] are in serious trouble.”
“I remember when I was om the Daily Maverick platform…with John Steenhuisen, Hlabisa, Mashaba, the question was asked by Stephen Grootes ‘ what to do you think of MK and Zuma’s chance’? All of them at that stage said he’s not a threat.
ALSO READ: Zuma’s MK party an ‘alternative for disgruntled ANC leaders’ – analyst
“I then said to Stephen Grootes, the tapes are there. I said they are all lying, they are not living in reality, Zuma is going to be a force to be reckoned with, Zuma is going to come in like a night tornado, well the rest his history,” McKenzie told Biz News this week.
‘Zuma tsunami’
McKenzie warned that there is more to come from Zuma.
“If you think Zuma’s come through like a tornado, he’s going through in 2026 like a tsunami. Zuma is working day and night. People don’t want to hear this, but we must be realistic about it. Zuma is bringing in whether you call them state capture guys, criminals, he’s bringing in people with a following and that’s what politics is about.
“If they [ANC] are not careful, Zuma is going to become the biggest party and the GNU is the only thing that can stop Zuma, not the ANC,” McKenzie said.
Zuma recruiting
Last week, Political analyst Mpumelelo Mkhabela said Zuma’s MK party was on the path of recruiting top African National Congress (ANC) leaders to dismantle his former party’s “stronghold on power.”
“The MK party wants top ANC leaders to do two things: To dismantle the ANC’s stronghold in power and to give an impression that actually it is the alternative for all senior ANC leaders that may be disgruntled with the party.
“Thirdly, the MK party is providing a leeway for people who may be frustrated with deployment opportunities. The ANC having lost its majority, no longer has power or room to deploy all its leaders to certain positions in government in the state in general,” Mkhabela said.
Mkhabela added that the MK party is “proving” in the case of Mchunu and others that it is the alternative platform for people seeking new deployments when their old party has lost power.
