Floyd Shivambu’s Mayibuye iAfrika gains momentum as MK leaders defect

The uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party has been thrown into fresh turmoil as senior leaders resign to join Floyd Shivambu’s Mayibuye iAfrika, which looks set to be registered ahead of next year’s local government elections.

Last week, former MK party deputy secretary general Nombuso Mkhize appeared at a Mayibuye media briefing where she was introduced as the head of presidency.

Shivambu said Mkhize would “serve as a critical link between the offices of the national convenor and national coordinator, ensuring operational excellence, unity of purpose and strategic coherence”.

Mkhize will also take part in “all national engagements, strategic meetings  and policy decisions” and would drive the party’s agenda on “economic transformation, land restitution, youth empowerment  and anti-corruption”.

Mkhize’s move follows the departure of several MK party leaders who Shivambu said had defected to Mayibuye iAfrika in recent weeks, including former treasurer general Menzi Magubane, former Gauteng provincial leader Musa Novela and Alfred Skhosana from Mpumalanga.

This comes after Jacob Zuma fired Shivambu as MK secretary general in June, following a controversial visit to Malawi where he attended a church service led by fugitive pastor Shepherd Bushiri. The trip had not been sanctioned by the MK party.

Shivambu then launched Mayibuye iAfrika, joined by several former MK party leaders. Earlier this month, MK said it had terminated his membership on 15 July.

Last week, Shivambu told a Durban rally that his movement was not a breakaway from the MK party.

“Mayibuye iAfrika is not a splinter of any party. It is a people’s movement that will be bigger than the ANC, the Economic Freedom Fighters [EFF] and the MK party,” he said.

He accused existing political formations of being “family-and-friends networks”, telling supporters: “We are not going to allow corruption. We are not going to allow families and cartels to run this movement.

“We are going to contest every metro and municipality in 2026. We will draft a people’s charter through community assemblies, unions and churches. South Africans are tired of being told what to think. Mayibuye will listen before it leads,” he added.

KwaZulu-Natal has emerged as the main battleground for political parties ahead of next year’s municipal elections, with Shivambu hoping to get a slice of the pie, possibly by weakening the ANC and EFF support base.

In last year’s general elections, the MK party won 45% of the provincial vote, which secured it 14% support nationally and made it the third-largest party in parliament, knocking the EFF into fourth place. The ANC lost significant ground in KwaZulu-Natal, while the Democratic Alliance’s support remained concentrated in urban centres.

Defectors from MK said Mayibuye is deliberately organising in KwaZulu-Natal to weaken Zuma’s base. They said the movement had  been setting up structures in areas where the MK party performed strongly last year, including in northern parts of the province.

Shivambu said MK would be humbled in the upcoming elections and  no one party could claim permanent ownership of the people’s support.

“The people decide who they trust  and they will trust Mayibuye.”

MK party leaders have rejected the suggestion that the party is collapsing. National spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said resignations were expected.

“There is no exodus. The people who followed Floyd to Mayibuye are people we always knew were leaving,” Ndhlela said.

“They never left the EFF for MK, they left the EFF for Floyd and they are leaving MK for Floyd. They are not organisational people. They have no home, they just float everywhere. They have no ideological grounding and centre.”

Zuma has appealed to his supporters not to follow Shivambu, telling a recent gathering in KwaZulu-Natal: “There are people who are using the struggle for personal survival. The people know who is fighting for them. We must not be distracted.”

Defectors have given several reasons for leaving MK. Eugene Ndlangamandla, a former regional coordinator in uMkhanyakude, said in his resignation letter the party had become “a personal project rather than a people’s vehicle”.

He accused the leadership of financial opacity and of allowing individuals to dominate decision-making.

Patricia Raisibe, who ran MK social media platforms, told volunteers in Gauteng she joined Mayibuye because “it is where the work is being done”. She has been appointed deputy provincial convenor.

Magubane, who managed the MK party’s finances before resigning, said Mayibuye was a chance to start fresh: “We have seen what happens when an organisation is captured by a family. This is about building a movement that is honest and accountable.”

Nolubabalo Mcinga, now deputy national convenor of Mayibuye, told supporters she had left the MK party to continue working with Shivambu.

“We left with Floyd because he has always been consistent. We worked with him at the EFF, we worked with him at MK and now we are building Mayibuye with him.”

Former EFF parliamentarian Mmabatho Mokause, who has been made Mayibuye’s national chairperson, said she was joining a movement that promised discipline: “Mayibuye is going to be different. We are building an organisation that is serious, an organisation that belongs to the people and not to families.”

But Zuma told supporters that his party remained strong.

“The MK party is not going anywhere. We are continuing the struggle and the people are with us,” the veteran politician said.