'I Fully Accept' - Shivambu on Party Decision

(The Post News)- Former MK Party national organizer and Secretary General (SG) Floyd Shivambu has welcomed his redeployment from the party’s head office to the National Assembly during a media briefing, thanking party president Jacob Zuma for his confidence in him.

Shivambu thanked the party and its president for assigning him a very important role as national organizer and then Secretary General. “I want to confirm that the national officials have taken a decision, which I fully accept as a disciplined member of Umkhonto weSizwe. We have been redeployed to the National Assembly. We will continue to play a role in advancing the agenda and program of Umkhonto weSizwe. It has been an invaluable role that we have played, and a humbling experience that we have been assigned by the president. We want to thank him for leading the program of unification of the progressive forces in South Africa,” he said.

Shivambu said he wanted to clarify that, on his behalf and everyone else who was involved, he regretted the decision of his visit to Malawi as it was not consistent with the constitution of Umkhonto weSizwe, as reflected in the statement. Shivambu visited the church of fugitive pastor Shepherd Bushiri during the Easter period in April.

“We fully accept the new responsibility, and we will continue to play a role and build the organization towards the 2026 local government elections. Thank you very much, Comrade President, we really appreciate the role you have given us and the redeployment, the confidence you continue to show even when we falter in terms of the issues we deal with personally,” he said.

The briefing was opened by party president Jacob Zuma, who said it was important to respond to the public outcry over Shivambu’s visit to Bushiri’s church. “After our SG had visited Malawi, we received a lot of letters. There were quite a number of letters, complaints. People who were quite unhappy, they said a number of things. They came three times worried, and we felt if there were people who were unhappy about what happened without them knowing the details, it was important that we tell the people what happened. We thought we should have this [briefing] and tell the country what happened. Others were talking about what are the relations of that person [Bushiri] with the Middle East. We took the decision we took on our behalf, and that is the end of it. We discussed it in our meeting, and it is confidential. The only thing we are doing is to alert the nation what we have done; there is no issue,” Zuma said.

National Chairperson Nkoainathi Ntleko, delivering the blow, said the MK Party and its leadership had been approached by members of various sectors of civil society, and the party was taking due consideration of the gravity of the matter. “Due to the various nature of this matter and its implications for the party, its image, values, and principles – the president and national officials were left with no other option but to act swiftly in this matter. Consequently, as a responsible organization accountable to its electorate and the broader society, the national officials have come to a decision to redeploy Commander Floyd Shivambu as the Secretary General of the party and redeploy him to the National Assembly. We believe that his redeployment will strengthen the MK Party caucus as the official opposition, as Commander Floyd Shivambu carries a lot of experience as a former Member of Parliament,” he said.

Ntleko said the party would like to thank and acknowledge Shivambu’s contribution as both national organizer and Secretary General of the MK Party and the role he has played in advancing the organization. His invaluable skills and experience as a politician would continue to benefit the MK Party in his new role. “The national officials have had discussions with Commander Floyd Shivambu, engaged with him pertaining to his redeployment, and he has duly accepted the particular position as directed by the national leadership,” Ntleko said.