ANC labels Zuma a sellout over MKP's position on Western Sahara conflict
The ANC has always advocated for the independence of the area for the Sahwari people, including when Zuma was president of the party.
The president of uMkhonto weSizwe Party Jacob Zuma during the party’s media briefing in Johannesburg on 22 August 2024. Picture: Jacques Nelles/Eyewitness News
CAPE TOWN - The African National Congress (ANC) has labelled its former president, Jacob Zuma, a sellout, for his party’s position on the Western Sahara conflict, signalling his shift in policy.
Zuma recently travelled to the North African region to show solidarity for Morocco’s control over the disputed territory.
The ANC has always advocated for the independence of the area for the Sahrawi people, including when Zuma was president of the party.
Speaking on the sidelines of a national working committee meeting in Cape Town on Sunday, ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula hit out at Zuma for the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party’s bilateral with Moroccan officials, calling the about-turn unsurprising.
“Jacob Zuma represents everything that’s wrong, that is pursued by sellouts and that’s what it is. We as the ANC will fight side-by-side for the self-determination of the Sahwari people. We are in solidarity with them, and Morocco must stop the occupation of Western Sahara.”
Mbalula has also accused Zuma of stealing ANC assets to form his own political party, which has since become the main opposition in Parliament.
“To divide our people, weaken the ANC for his own personal aggrandisement is what he’s been. He will be remembered for that by history.”