Shivambu’s move to uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), will probably be short-lived.
The Jacob Zuma factor and persona looms large in the MK party. Zuma’s power surrogate in the form of his daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, will probably continue to hold the reigns.
Meaning the infighting and instability in the MK party will continue. Just think of the 12 MPs dismissed just this past month.
How Floyd Shivambu will fit in this family power mix and powder keg of instability since MK party’s formation in 2023, is still an open question.
If Shivambu will simply slot in without taking on the role of professionalising the party, i.e. party structures over the cult of personality, meritocracy over nepotism, then he will probably find himself in the position he was in the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
Julius Malema’s personality in the EFF was also above the party and there was very little chance of Shivambu, despite being the co-founder of EFF, ever taking the baton from Malema’s fiefdom.
And the fact that Shivambu makes the move together with lifelong Zuma fanboy, Jimmy Manyi, I mean Mzwanele Manyi, does not bode well for him.
Manyi is a serial political party hopper, donning African National Congress (ANC), African Transformation Movement (ATM), EFF, and now MK party colours all in a space of five years – all the while being a spokesperson for the Jacob Zuma Foundation.
What Manyi and Shivambu have in minds with the move to the MK is probably diametrically opposed. One is coming back home to cheer on his hero, Jacob Zuma, while the other is advancing his stagnant political career.
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