2023 elections: Political parties play musical chairs
With national elections fast approaching, politicians have been playing “musical chairs” to try and secure their seat in parliament.
In the last few weeks, there has been a scurry of politicians hopping between parties, and there’s likely to be some high-profile shuffles in the months to come.
The last 24 hours saw Areta political party founder, Carl Niehaus — who is also the former national spokesperson of the Mkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) — announcing that he has joined the EFF, while former ANC Veterans Association deputy president Mavuso Msimang, who a week ago announced that he was terminating his ANC membership, made a sudden U-turn on his earlier decision to dump the ruling party.
As the public was still digesting the developments around Niehaus and Msimang, media reports linked former president Jacob Zuma to the recently formed Mkhonto weSizwe political party — an organisation formed by disgruntled members of the MKMVA.
Nehaus, who formed Areta a few months ago following his expulsion from the ANC, said the main reason he joined the EFF was to stop the ruling party from destroying the country.
Areta has made the forging of a united progressive left front to save our country a pillar of its work since it was formed on February 23, 2023.
“This announcement is a significant step in achieving that objective, and reshaping the South African political landscape in order to replace the neo-liberal right-wing destruction of our country with a united, progressive government dedicated to the implementation of radical transformation,” he said.
On the other hand, Msimang, who confirmed that he has reversed his decision to sever ties with the ANC, had in his resignation letter cited widespread corruption within the ANC as his main reason for ditching the party.
Chief among Msimang’s grievances was that the ANC has included in its list of MP candidates for next year’s general elections, party members who were implicated in state capture.
The publication has since established that Msimang, who in recent days held talks with ANC leaders, agreed to rescind his resignation after the party’s top brass agreed that it will remove the names of ANC members who have been accused of corruption, from its candidate list.
Political experts weigh in
Political analyst professor Dirk Kotze said the ANC had to exert pressure on Msimang to reconsider his decision to quit the party, as it was concerned that his continued anti-ANC leadership statements would hurt the party at the polls.
“It’s clear that he came under immense pressure from the ANC leadership.
The ANC leadership is aware that while he will be allowed to still criticize the party, his criticism would be less damaging if he were to do it as a member of the party.
While Zuma has consistently maintained that he will not leave the ANC, the former ruling party president has, since his removal as the president of the country in 2018, been associating himself with various political parties.
During the build-up to the 2019 general elections, Zuma told his supporters — who are mainly ANC backers — that they should “assist” Black Land First (BLF) leader Andile Mngxitama in the elections. While there were some within the ANC who did not like Zuma, Kotze said the party leadership would not want him to leave the party. “He still plays an important role, particularly in KZN where he is still popular,” he said.
In other news – Like mother-like daughter: Bontle Modiselle’s princess, Afrika shows off impressive dance moves
Popular Mzansi actress, television presenter, radio personality, dancer, choreographer, singer, and model, Bontle Modiselle’s daughter Afrika pulled off impressive dance moves on TikTok. She remains one of the finest celebrity dancers.
She had a large following on TikTok; most of her videos were dance videos. Indeed, Bontle’s talent is there for everyone to see, but what about her daughter? Bontle had been showing many pictures and videos with her daughter, but not when they were dancing. Read More
