MK Party leadership changes stoke ire of some members: You can go, says Zuma

JOHANNESBURG – The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party’s leader – Jacob Zuma – says members unhappy with its new leaders are welcome to leave the organisation.

At a media briefing in Sandton on Friday, the MK Party announced former Economic Freedom Fighters member of Parliament Busisiwe Mkhwebane and former African National Congress (ANC) stalwart Willies Mchunu have joined its ranks. 

The party also announced Mkhwebane as its new Mpumalanga leader and Mchunu as its Kwazulu-Natal leader.

This move is not sitting well with some MK Party members.

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• Mkhwebane joins MK Party after dumping the EFF
• Former KZN Premier Willies Mchunu resigns from the ANC

Before the media briefing started, a small group of MK Party supporters held a protest outside the conference venue. 

They’re angry that newly joined MK Party members are parachuted into leadership positions, overlooking the old guard.

Zuma said because the organisation is under a year old, nobody can claim to be overlooked for any position. 

“It has been done in many things that other politicians recruit others for specific purposes. You can’t make that an issue, if somebody is feeling there is a problem why don’t they go to the organisation they want and leave us,” said Zuma.

He added the party would continue to attract the best political minds in South Africa.