Calls for Shivambu's head to roll

A faction in the uMkhonto weSizwe party aligned to traditional leaders wants a leadership change that could affect others besides the secretary general

- Mandisa Nyathi

The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party is again facing pressure from within its ranks to remove secretary general Floyd Shivambu, as well as other leaders.

A top-level leadership overhaul has been proposed in a 29-page strategy document circulating among members. In the document the administration is accused of straying from the party’s founding values.

But Shivambu’s supporters have hit back, saying any calls for his removal can be laid squarely at the feet of “tribalism”.

The document calls for the restructuring of the party’s leadership to reassert its direction.

It proposes Shivambu’s removal as secretary general and recommends that traditional leader and former MK party member of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature Nduna Phumlani Mfeka take over the role.

The move against Shivambu is gaining traction among members of a faction in the MK party aligned with traditional leaders, who believe the party has drifted away from its support base in KwaZulu-Natal and its core principles, particularly its respect for traditional leaders.

Mfeka, who is an ally of founder Jacob Zuma, resigned from both the MK party and parliament earlier this year but rejoined this month at the request of senior traditional leaders.

The growing rebellion is not limited to Shivambu. Zuma loyalist Mzwanele Manyi has also emerged as a casualty in the battle, after he was removed as party chief whip on Tuesday for being “incompetent”.

Tensions surrounding Shivambu have been escalating since February, when Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, publicly criticised his leadership in a series of posts on X. She accused him of weakening the party and labelled him “the worst” thing to have happened to the party.