WeeklySA_AdminRISK: Funding for Floyd’s party not immune to white monopoly capital’
By Sandile Swana
By 2011 the ANC leadership was in conflict with the leadership of the ANC Youth League where Julius Malema was president, Ronald Lamola a deputy president, the late Sindiso Magaqa, a secretary-general, Pule Mabe, a treasurer-general, and Floyd Shivambu, the spokesperson.
In many ways, Shivambu was the most junior of the group, which had recognised that former president Jacob Zuma was worse than the previously ousted Thabo Mbeki, and that the ANC leadership was drifting away from the core struggles of economic emancipation of the black majority and pan-African progress more broadly.
These tensions led to disciplinary actions. Malema and Shivambu left the ANC to form the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). Lamola lost office and would later be seen staging small protests against Zuma, demanding that the ANC remove him from office. Many South Africans were convinced that Zuma was damaging the economy, ruining the national Treasury, and destabilising the civil service and the cabinet. Some were convinced he was not on the right track with decolonisation and anti-imperialism projects.
Chaos and criminality under Zuma skyrocketed, Magaqa eventually lost his life to ANC criminals in 2017 while Zuma was president, and Ramaphosa his deputy. The protests against Zuma and Ramaphosa were valid and remain so. These include the Marikana massacre, the Nkandla scandal – which involved improper use of public funds to upgrade his private Nkandla residence, as well as the construction of non-security features such as the swimming pool, the amphitheatre, and the cattle enclosure. With Ramaphosa’s Phalaphala scandal, a complaint had been raised that a total of US$4 million (equivalent to R62 million) had been stashed inside a couch at Ramaphosa’s game farm in Waterberg, Limpopo, in 2020. As for the VBS Mutual Bank, Shivambu’s name and that of Malema, had been allegedly associated with its looting and ransacking which led to its demise.
During 2023 and 2024 Shivambu assisted Zuma to launch the MKP while he was still a member of the EFF. The EFF’s support in KZN was wiped off, overtaken by the MK Party. Shivambu, in his press conference briefing this week, demoted from his secretary-general position at the MKP, said he had learnt more under Zuma in six months than he had from the EFF in ten years, arguing that Malema was unsuitable to lead the EFF and South Africa.
Shivambu stated he was fired from his SG position, and then prevented from taking his seat in parliament because of three reasons: one, there were two fake intelligence reports that he wanted to topple Zuma; second, he was sponsored by the Stellenbosch mafia and other African leaders; and third, he went to Bushiri in Malawi or elsewhere to acquire supernatural powers to make Zuma “to disappear”.
Shivambu believes Zuma is old and gullible and surrounded by scoundrels who mislead him while stealing millions of rands from the party’s coffers every month. He cited a figure of R7-million a month. Shivambu says he challenged these “rogues,” especially because these financial irregularities will cause the party to be deregistered by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).
Zuma boasted that since inception in December 2023 the MKP has had seven secretary-generals – all of whom, including Shivambu, had been fired.
Zuma does not accept that these SGs were wrongly hired, and unfit and unsuitable for office. Massive staff turnover starts with wrong hiring and then followed by poor management and leadership.
Zuma and Shivambu both have to accept that the former president has had a history of wrong human resource practices that have damaged many careers in the country.
These include those of Themba Maseko, former head of the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) between 2006 and 2011, among others, including the dismissal of cabinet minister Pravin Gordhan, and his deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, and Nhlanhla Nene, also a former finance mister, were his victims. Clearly, financial irregularity is a normal practice in the political, governance, and financial accounting culture of Zuma.
Zuma’s financial profligacy is not only a hallmark of his public and personal life, but also a culture he brought into the state, the ANC, and the MKP. Both Shivambu and Zuma are implicated in the VBS affair, although Shivambu presents himself as the one who stands against “the scoundrels and thieves on the MKP”. As he steers towards launching another umbrella party to the left of the political spectrum, we must wonder what financial character he will bring to head a financial unit in his proposed party – if we accept, as he claims, he has learnt well from Zuma, the MKP leader who is facing charges of alleged corruption and racketeering, among others.
Other lesson Shivambu brings to his newly proposed party learnt from Zuma may be the use of lies for political objectives. When it comes to reasons proffered for Shivambu’s expulsion as secretary-general, inaccuracies, fabricated intelligence reports, and superstitions as well as reliance on discredited scoundrels, and drug addicts, jump out as reasons used to justify his dismissal at the helm. Those who will work with Shivambu have to look out for his gullibility, lack of good judgment, and general wisdom. All of us know that to work with Zuma or for him is high risk.
Secretary-general of SA Federation Trade Unions of South Africa Zwelinzima Vavi, Malema, and ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, ministers Gwede Mantashe and Blade Nzimande, and many others, realised within the first twelve months of Zuma’s ascendency to power that he was on another agenda and was getting ready to dump them despite the fact that they were instrumental to help him to ascend political power as president of the ANC and of the country.
Yet Shivambu says joining the MK Party was the most “solid decision” he made by joining the MKP after the May 2024 elections. This combined with acting as a double agent for Zuma before or during the elections. Integrity, honesty, and openness, are lessons yet to be learned by both Zuma and Shivambu. It is easy for Zuma to use a person and later dump them.
Since December 2023, many have been sidelined or expelled, as had been the case with Jabulani Khumalo, one of the founders of the party, among others, who found himself in the cold after Zuma came to the scene. Even the paternity of MKP is in question due to the Zuma culture of mendacity and duplicity that Shivambu embraces.
Shivambu seems to be in league with African Traditional Churches, Charismatic Churches, emerging trade unions- entities that could bring large numbers on short notice. He appears to believe that he can strip followers and members from ANC, EFF and MKP using similar methods that Zuma used in his speedy rise to the top – 17% of the national assembly.
But Shivambu needs to give clarity to the original vision of “Economic Freedom in our lifetime”. I believe that is what sparked ideological wars in the ANC around 2011-2012 with Zuma leading the counter against the ANC Youth League.
The voting public needs ideological clarity and certainty and also to know who the proponents are versus who the opponents are. Ideological certainty and clarity among members and followers reduce dependency on the cult personality.
Zuma took the ANC presidency in 2007 and left it in the early 2017 and left the state presidency in early 2018. The gross domestic product (GDP)growth rate was declining every year, and unemployment increasing during his presidency.
During the Zuma presidency the land redistribution and agricultural reform programmes ground to a halt as budgets were cut, corruption escalated, and indolence was crippling the state. We have to get insight as to what it is that Shivambu had learnt from that economic gloom, and that cannot be covered up with conspiracy theories when records show that Zuma started the public sector investment strike, cutting down the Gross Fixed Capital Formation budget consistently and Ramaphosa making it worse. All in all, Shivambu is starting a huge UDF/MDM type movement that seek to swallow the ANC, MKP, EFF, and all other black small parties and lead the process of taking state power and implementing “Freedom in our lifetime.”
This will be the first time Shivambu will be the head of a political party, so his true skills at mobilising, organising, and leading will be properly tested. His ability to maintain ideological clarity surrounded by trade unions, traditional healers, churches, unions, and so on, while holding a Marxist-Leninist ideological perspective will be fully tested.
The funding of the proposed party remains a stinking question, because he may just be a puppet of white monopoly capital like many other comrades. It is necessary for Shivambu to create a new culture of accuracy, honesty and scientific rigour and not be driven by fake intelligence, bogus prophecies, and superstition.
• Swana is a political and governance analyst for local and international media, independent consultant on governance, leadership and strategy
Comment
BULLIES MUST BE PUNISHED
Schools are expected to be institutions of learning and not a haven for bullies who carry weapons, disrupt classes, harass other learners and even have the nerve to murder those they dislike.
Reports that there has been a rampant increase in the number of bullying and violent attacks at South African public schools, should be of great concern to teachers, parents and School Governing Bodies. Most of our public schools are facing serious challenges of controlling learners who were a law unto themselves by deliberately coming late for classes, taking drugs before and after school, having no regard to the school regulations and no respect for their teachers.
Above all this, there is also the massive problem of bullying and violence at schools where several learners had lost their lives after being stabbed by their colleagues during altercations that had nothing to do with education.
The latest victim is 19-year-old Lethabo Mokonyane from an informal settlement in Donkerhoek, Pretoria East, who was stabbed to death by a fellow learner last week while on his way to board a bus home. Two suspects, including a Grade 12 learner have been arrested for the murder. Most of the violent incidents are triggered by long periods of bullying which culminate in some of the victims being killed. Bullying constituted a significant challenge to the safety of children at schools. It is a harrowing experience that has forced hundreds of learners to drop out of school. Some have even gone to the extent of taking their own lives to avoid this perpetual torture.
Despite reports that bullying was rife at most schools where the rights of law-abiding learners were being trampled upon by rude students, the Department of Education has done very little to combat this disturbing trend. Bullies continued to harass other learners with impunity. To crown it all, these incidents were being filmed and circulated on social media.
Teachers and other staff members should be reminded that in terms of the Children’s Act, it is their duty to care for every learner during school hours. Schools are legally obligated to create safe environments which included the implementation of measures to prevent violence, drug use and the presence of dangerous objects.
The lack of discipline at most of the public schools especially since the banning of corporal punishment after the ushering of a democratic order, has left teachers and parents in a helpless situation with most learners claiming they had the rights to do as they pleased.
Gauteng MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane, reacting to Mokonyane’s murder, pledged that gangsterism and bullying would not be tolerated at schools. He promised to suspend the suspect (s) because they were disrupting the learning process of others.
That is not the appropriate sanction. Pupils who bully and murder their colleagues must not only be dismissed , their cases must be handed over to the police for proper investigation. They must face the consequences of their evil deeds and once convicted, they must serve time in jail.
These are not learners. They are thugs who belong in prison.
