Zuma’s MK party to join South Africa’s opposition coalition

Former South African President Jacob Zuma has announced that his uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) political party will join the opposition alliance in parliament.

He declared that it will organize opposition to the African National Congress (ANC)-led coalition in power.

Nevertheless, MK declared that it still believed the elections held last month were manipulated and that the results should be overturned.

MK spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela read aloud from Mr. Zuma’s speech on Sunday, stating that the ANC was no longer a part of the solution.

Mr. Zuma referred to the alliance as a “white-led unholy alliance between the DA and the ANC of Ramaphosa” and stated that there was no government of national unity in South Africa.

For the first time since apartheid ended, the ANC lost its absolute majority. Over the weekend, it also finalized a power-sharing arrangement with the Democratic Alliance (DA).

The ANC refers to the coalition of lesser parties as a national unity government.

The ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected by their MPs on Friday to a second term as president; however, a cabinet has not yet been established.

A power-sharing agreement between the DA and the ANC was previously seen by many South Africans as unthinkable because they are sworn foes.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) emerged from a coalition of parties that includes remnants of the National Party, which ruled South Africa during apartheid. The DA supports free-market economics, which is in opposition to the ANC’s left-wing legacy.

On Sunday, Mr. Zuma verified that MK had filed a lawsuit requesting that the election results be ruled void and that a fresh poll be conducted.

Mr. Zuma urged his followers to “submit or fight” back with nonviolent methods.

“We will fight to win back our country from the enemies of progress,” he said.

Fears have been raised that Mr. Zuma’s position will incite violence among his followers, who killed rioting in July 2021 after he was imprisoned for declining to testify in a public investigation into corruption committed when he was in office.

Police reinforcements have been dispatched to KwaZulu-Natal, his home province.

The 82-year-old Zuma announced that his party would soon return to parliament, having abstained from the first sitting on Friday.

Surprisingly, the newly established MK performed admirably in the polls, becoming as the nation’s third-largest party and seizing a sizable portion of ANC votes.

It secured 58 seats in parliament with 12% of the vote.

According to Mr. Zuma, the MK would join the Progressive Caucus, a collection of minor parties, as a formal member of the opposition.

With about a third of the seats, the radical Economic Freedom Fighters and the center-left United Democratic Movement are part of the caucus.

An ANC veteran, Mr. Zuma’s relationship with the party soured when he was forced to resign from office in 2018 due to corruption scandals. He has consistently refuted any misconduct. (BBC)

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