MK Party - The African Mirror

Jun

17

2024

Former South African leader Zuma’s party says it will join opposition in parliament

NEWS

SOUTH Africa's uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party will join an alliance of smaller opposition parties in parliament in a bid to take on the African National Congress and Democratic Alliance-led coalition government, it said. The ANC and its largest rival, the white-led, pro-business Democratic Alliance, agreed on Friday to work together in a coalition it called "government of national unity", a step change after 30 years of ANC rule. Former president Jacob Zuma's uMkhonto we Sizwe party came in a surprisingly strong third in the May 29 election which saw the ANC lose its majority. MK won 14.6% of the vote which translated into 58 seats in…

Jun

16

2024

By NQOBILE DLUDLA

South Africa’s KZN province elects IFP member as premier in setback for Zuma

NEWS

SOUTH Africa's KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature elected an Inkatha Freedom Party member as its premier, picking him over the candidate put forward by the uMkhonto we Sizwe party led by former President Jacob Zuma. Thami Ntuli's election effectively shut out MK from governing the province, even though it was the party that got the largest share of the local vote in a May 29 election, while falling short of a majority. "It's an important journey that we're starting today, joining the few from those who have gone before us to try and make the life of KwaZulu-Natal better," Ntuli told provincial lawmakers after his…

Jun

13

2024

By TIM COCKS

How can South Africa form a unity government from wildly different visions?

NEWS

TALKS to forge South Africa's post-election unity government will need to bring together parties with goals as contradictory as seizing white-owned farms and mines, ditching Black empowerment policies and tearing up the constitution. How well the African National Congress (ANC) harmonises these divergent and mutually hostile visions will determine the government's stability, its ability to make decisions and its policy priorities over the next five years. It will also test Nelson Mandela's 1994 aspiration for a "rainbow nation at peace with itself", as politicians try to navigate historical ethnic and racial enmities that were starkly exposed by the May 29…

Jun

11

2024

By ROGER SOUTHALL

Death of a liberation movement: how South Africa’s ANC became just a regular political party – with some help from Jacob Zuma

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE African National Congress (ANC), the party that’s led South Africa since the first democratic elections in 1994, has long considered itself a “liberation movement” – representing all South Africans, as the “voice of the people”. But its dismal performance in the 2024 elections (winning only 40% of the national vote) confirms that its transition from the status of a liberation movement to just a political party is now complete. There can no longer be a pretence that it alone represents “the people”. It is now simply the largest among a host of ordinary political parties doing what ordinary political…

Jun

07

2024

By BRETT SILBERG

Elections: Who will the ANC form a coalition with? DA, EFF or MK?

BUSINESS

EON Investment Management chief investment officer Asief Mohamed believes that the ANC will have to form a coalition with one of the three larger parties: the DA, the EFF or the MK Party. ‘They will most likely have to form a coalition, and it will take time before they agree on one. I doubt that the smaller parties will be enough for them to form a coalition,’ he told Citywire SA during an interview. Citywire + rated Mohamed said the ANC would probably end up with around 45% because of the higher voter turnout in the major metropolitan areas. ‘The…

Jun

07

2024

By CARIN RUNCIMAN and MARCEL PARET

South African voters shifted support in 2024 but that’s nothing new – surveys after previous elections showed party loyalty was fluid

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

TO the casual observer, the outcome of South Africa’s 2024 national and provincial elections, which herald a new era of national coalition governance, may appear to represent new electoral trends. But that is not the case. While the shift in voting patterns is certainly the largest the country has seen since democratic elections began, voter fluidity – people shifting their votes from one election to the next – has been a growing trend among the South African electorate since at least 2016. The 2024 general election is a watershed moment in South Africa’s democracy. For the first time in 30…

Jun

06

2024

By NELLIE PEYTON and WENDELL ROELF

South Africa’s ANC leans towards unity government but meets resistance

NEWS

THE African National Congress is leaning towards trying to form a government of national unity for South Africa, it said, but the second-largest party said it would not join a government that included some of its smaller rivals. The ANC, which has run the country since Nelson Mandela led it to victory in the 1994 elections that marked the end of apartheid, lost its parliamentary majority in last week's election for the first time in the democratic era. Punished by voters over persistent poverty and joblessness, rampant crime, rolling power blackouts and corruption, the ANC is still the largest party…

Jun

01

2024

By TANNUR ANDERS, BHARGAV ACHARYA and NQOBILE DLUDLA

South Africa heads for coalition as ANC support plunges

NEWS

SOUTH African parties geared up for coalition talks as the governing African National Congress (ANC) looked set to fall well short of a majority for the first time in 30 years of democracy. While the party of the late Nelson Mandela looked likely to remain the largest political force after Wednesday's election, voters appeared to have punished the former liberation movement for years of economic decline which have left many in poverty. With results in from nearly 70% of polling stations, the ANC had 41.8% of votes, a precipitous drop from the 57.5% it secured in the last national election in 2019. The…

May

20

2024

By ANAIT MIRIDZHANIAN and SFUNDO PARAKOZOV

South Africa’s new MK party seeks majority win in pivotal election, Zuma says

NEWS

SOUTH Africa's new uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party is aiming to win a parliamentary majority in a May 29 election so that it can implement reforms without resistance from opponents, former President Jacob Zuma said. Zuma, who was forced to quit as president in 2018, has fallen out with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and has been campaigning for MK, which was formed in December. "We want to get an outright victory because if we don't get the two-thirds (majority), the opposition may oppose us," 82-year-old Zuma told thousands of supporters during a launch of the party's election manifesto.…

May

09

2024

By The African Mirror

South Africa election: Who are ANC and other rival parties vying for power?

NEWS

SOUTH Africa's election on May 29 could bring momentous change, with polls suggesting the ruling African National Congress is likely to lose its majority after 30 years in power. The following are key facts about the ANC and rival parties, including smaller ones that could play a pivotal role in forming a coalition government, should the opportunity arise. AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS The ANC enjoys rock-solid loyalty from many Black South Africans, especially older voters, due to its heroic past as a liberation movement that helped end apartheid and usher in multi-racial democracy under the leadership of Nelson Mandela. It has won a majority…