The removal of Floyd Shivambu from the MK party has sparked tribalism fears and may damage the party’s support beyond KwaZulu-Natal, writesZukile Majovain Real Politics.
Floyd Shivambu’s short-lived stint as a top official in the MK party has ended — and his exit has raised serious questions about Jacob Zuma’s leadership and tribalism in the party.
His fall from grace has sparked fears that the MK party is not a national movement, but a vehicle for Zuma’s Zulu loyalists and allies from his past in state capture.
Many were shocked when Zuma recruited Shivambu, who had led a fierce campaign in Parliament to make him pay back the R8-million used for luxury upgrades at his Nkandla home.
As a senior member of the EFF, Shivambu also attacked Zuma over his links with the Gupta family and accused him of being at the centre of state capture.
Despite this rocky history, bringing Shivambu into the MK party was a smart move by Zuma. The party had no clear structure or policy but had pulled off a stunning win — claiming 58 parliamentary seats in its first election.
Zuma’s decision to make Shivambu the national organiser and later the party’s secretary, suggested a shift in leadership style. For once, he was bringing in someone outside his loyal circle — someone with real political experience.
It was also a move that helped push back against accusations that the MK party was feeding tribal tensions.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and other ANC leaders have warned that the rise of the MK party is dividing South Africans along tribal lines. They fear it is mainly a Zulu reaction to Zuma’s removal and Ramaphosa’s rise.
The fears are not unfounded.
Since 2017, KwaZulu-Natal has lost ground in national ANC politics. By the 2022 elective conference, no one from the province made it into the party’s top seven leadership.
Instead of retreating, Zuma’s backers regrouped. They blamed Ramaphosa’s faction for their loss and launched the MK party as a new home for the so-called Radical Economic Transformation forces.
Shivambu’s arrival had briefly changed that image. His rise was seen as proof that MK could become a national party, not just a tool for tribal revenge.
He was tasked with building the party’s foundations and writing its constitution — trying to steer it away from ANC-style faction fights.
But from the start, he was targeted by a powerful faction led by Zuma’s daughter Duduzile. That group has now pushed him out.
The party announced Shivambu’s removal this week, and with it, Zuma may have made his biggest mistake yet.
The decision confirms what many opponents, including the EFF, have been saying all along — that Zuma uses people and dumps them when they no longer serve his purpose.
Zuma once did the same with Ramaphosa. He brought him back from business to serve as his deputy — wrongly thinking he could be controlled. Now, history seems to be repeating itself with Shivambu.
While the MK party still has support in parts of Gauteng, North West and Mpumalanga, most of it is concentrated in mining towns and hostels filled with KwaZulu-Natal migrants.
The leadership remains packed with Zuma’s allies from the state capture era — and the same people who backed protests against his arrest in 2021, which led to the deadly July Riots.
This growing tribal image is likely to cost the party support across the country.
The Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Free State, Northern Cape, Limpopo and even parts of Gauteng have little tolerance for tribal politics. Many black voters rejected tribalism decades ago and are unlikely to back a party seen to be stoking it again.
Already, former ANC members like Ace Magashule, once seen as a possible MK secretary general, have chosen to form their own parties instead.
Magashule has left the door open for future cooperation with MK, but his decision to go it alone shows cracks in the so-called black parties front.
Shivambu’s departure sends a message that MK is not for everyone — and that non-Zulu leaders might not find a lasting home there.
It also raises concerns about how the party will perform in parliament. So far, the MK caucus has struggled to act as a strong opposition voice.
Had it been better led, the MK caucus could have taken the lead on fighting the proposed hike in Value Added Tax and the rising fuel levy.
Now Shivambu, one of the few experienced Members of Parliament in the MK ranks, may be sidelined once again.
My view is that Shivambu would end up returning to the ANC rather than the EFF.
But first, he will remain in parliament as part of the MK contingent. This puts him on a collision course with MK’s parliamentary leader, John Hlophe — the former judge president who was impeached and is a close Zuma ally.
The tribal faction inside the MK party may have won for now. But their victory could cost Zuma the national power he craves.
Image caption: Jacob Zuma delivering a keynote address at a school in KwaMaphumulo, KwaZulu-Natal.
Image source: MK party
