Afrika Mayibuye Movement president Floyd Shivambu has criticised South Africa’s political landscape, saying no party, including the African National Congress (ANC), which he claimed has the blood of the Marikana massacre on its hands, represents the interests of the people.
Speaking during a media briefing on Wednesday afternoon in Midrand, Shivambu said the ANC had become a platform for personal enrichment rather than service to the people.
“It’s an association of people who want to get rich or die trying. That is what it is,” he said.
“That is why you can have a Minister of Police (referring to suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu) befriend criminals so that they can finance his presidential campaigns in the ANC.”
Shivambu claimed that the ANC’s leadership had failed to act decisively on corruption because of internal factionalism.
“When that is revealed clearly for everyone to see, the ANC is not sure whether to ask him to step aside or not, because those who are leading are in the same faction as him. It’s the same thinking, the same grouping,” he said.
Mchunu was placed on special leave following allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi during a July media briefing.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has since established the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry to investigate the claims.
Recently, the ANC confirmed that Mchunu, who serves on the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) and National Working Committee (NWC), had been granted a special leave from party activities.
He has already appeared before Parliament’s ad hoc committee but has yet to appear before the Madlanga Commission.
Shivambu claimed that his new party, launched in September, was born out of extensive public consultations.
“The formation of the Afrika Mayibuye Movement is a result of massive consultations and demands from the people who made submissions. We publicly consulted,” he said.”
“The majority of people who participated were not known to us. They came voluntarily and said that the movement must be founded, and these are the principles that should guide it.”
The former Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) deputy president said that, in his assessment, there is no political organisation in South Africa that represents the interests of black people.
“In our political assessment of the conditions in South Africa, we don’t believe that there is a black organisation or political party that is a true representative of the aspirations of the people,” he said.
Shivambu also accused the ANC of being responsible for the Marikana massacre on August 16, 2012, in which over 30 mine workers were killed during a wildcat strike at the Lonmin platinum mine in the North West.
“The ANC has the blood of workers in Marikana on its hands. It was a decision of the ANC government to go and kill defenceless workers. It’s not representative of the people,” said the former-secretary-general of the MK Party.
He added that the party’s declining electoral support showed that South Africans no longer saw it as a force for liberation.
“That is demonstrated by 19 million voters in 1994 and 16 million in 2024 – 30 years later, when the population has grown. It’s a sign to say that we don’t trust you,” he said.
Shivambu said his party was formed to offer an alternative to the ANC and to continue the struggle for genuine liberation.
“We thought there could be an alternate black political organisation that would carry the burden thrown away by the ANC and fight until the finish line,” he said.
He said that the Afrika Mayibuye Movement was created because “there is no black organisation that is truly fighting for the aspirations of the people.”
News had sent questions to the ANC for a comment on Wednesday regarding the allegations made by Shivambu on, however, no response was received before the article was published.
Politics
