Jacob Zuma’s fight to be reinstated has never stopped, even after the ANC found him guilty of "prejudicing the integrity" of the ANC by joining the MK party.
Image: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers
Independent political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe said it was challenging to comprehend former President Jacob Zuma’s insistence on being a member of the ANC other than as an “irritant” to his former political home.
Seepe’s comments followed a letter issued by the Jacob Zuma (JGZ) Foundation on Wednesday, January 8, the date of the ANC's 113th anniversary, urging the ANC to prioritise fairness, consistency, and adherence to its founding principles, ensuring that all members are protected from selective disciplinary actions or factional vendettas.
Spokesperson for the JGZ Foundation, Mzwanele Manyi, who is also the Chief Whip of the MK Party in parliament, said in the letter addressed to the ANC that the matter highlights significant procedural and substantive concerns regarding the processes followed by the ANC’s National Disciplinary Committee (NDC) and the National Disciplinary Committee of Appeal (NDCA).
He felt that the concerns raised suggested irregularities they believed an independent legal review would likely find invalid.
Manyi added that the letter pointed out concerning actions by the ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula – who has allegedly engaged in acts of intimidation and victimisation, and targeted insults against Zuma’s representative, ANC NEC veteran Tony Yengeni.
He further argued that such behaviour contravened the ANC Constitution and undermined the integrity of the party’s internal processes.
Seepe stated that Zuma’s actions were a move to irritate the ANC as the liberation movement prepared to celebrate its January 8 birthday, which is set to take place in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, on Saturday.
"I use the word 'irritant' guardedly in a sense that seeks to expose the political bankruptcy of the ANC of Ramaphosa," he said. "The notion that Tony Yengeni is accused of bringing the ANC into disrepute is laughable. Nothing could bring the ANC and the country into disrepute (more) than the Phala Phala scandal.
“Nothing is more disreputable than a president accused of stashing undeclared foreign currency in a mattress. No amount of spin would remove the stench from Phala Phala,” said Seepe.
When approached for comment, ANC Spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu did not respond.
The ANC expelled former president Zuma in 2024, and Mbalula vowed that the party would not take back the leader of the uMkhonto Wesizwe, now the official opposition in the country.
Despite his former party expelling him, Zuma’s fight to be reinstated has never stopped, even after the ANC ruled against him through the party’s disciplinary process after he was found guilty of "prejudicing the integrity" of the ANC by joining the MK party.
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