Just as MK was formed by the then secretary-general of the ANC, Commander Walter Sisulu, MK Party was formed by no less than a former president of the ANC and head of state Jacob Zuma, who is also the former head of intelligence of MK. Picture: Supplied
By Athi Nyokana
THE symbolism associated with the laying of a wreath at the graveside of fallen uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) combatants is not deliberated upon to its fullest extent. Former ANC President Jacob Zuma posits an intriguing praxis in this regard—resuscitating uMkhonto we Sizwe but this time around as an overt political party.
There are of course a plethora of layers embedded in this praxis that do require some level of analysis and historical background.
The essence of an elective conference is that branches of an organisation converge to discuss several matters pertaining to the mother body and thereafter send delegates to a national conference to be the representatives of the collective views of a branch. The delegate essentially becomes an embodiment of the sum total views of each individual branch member.
Of course there may be some political considerations that a delegate would otherwise have to take into account in the period in which they are mandated by their branch and the actual sitting of the elective conference. However, it is understood that the delegate may not rescind or fundamentally deviate from the mandate given to them by their branch.
At the 54th conference of the ANC money was used to unduly influence branch delegates to deviate from the mandate assigned to them by their branches, especially as it relates to the election of party leadership at that particular conference.
According to credible sources, it would appear that the funds used to influence these delegates emanated from top business executives who had a vested interest in so far as changing the ideological direction of the ANC from left to right, thus making out of it a repository of morbid liberal economic utopias.
But that is not the point. The point is that if the custodians of the ANC, its branch members, are stripped of their constitutionally enshrined powers by way of a clear subversion of democratic outcomes by top business executives then surely what emerges thereafter is not the will of the branches of the ANC.
In other words, what emerged out of the 54th conference of the ANC is not the ANC. It is in the main, an arrangement between the capitalist establishment and some of its proponents from within the ANC.
If, however, this point does not hit home then utilising a mathematical concept of proving by contradiction might assist to ensure that it does. So let us begin by assuming that what emerged out of the ANC’s 54th conference is indeed the will of ANC branches and not some arrangement to divert its ideological position from left to right and halt its RET programme.
Following this assumption, a number of resolutions relating to the transformation of South Africa’s economy should have been long implemented. Expropriation of land without compensation is but a sacrosanct policy of the ANC that speaks to the very reason of why it was formed; to liberate Africans.
This policy has, however, been thrown to the annals of liberation history and replaced by its changeling—something along the lines of nil compensation, a stark distortion of the original resolution.
Under this assumption we do encounter other incidents of glaring contradictions. For instance, nobody can quite figure out why the SA Reserve Bank has not been nationalised and why a state owned commercial bank has not been established despite there existing standing ANC resolutions on these matters.
These contradictions point to the fact that what emerged out of the 54th conference of the ANC is not the will of ANC branches and by extension not the ANC. In so far as MK Party characterises this arrangement as the “ANC of the Establishment” and not the real ANC—there certainly is merit in this regard.
There are of course controversies surrounding the legitimacy of MK Party which presents another level of analysis that should to be unpacked. When one understands things beyond names and logos it becomes easy to grasp that by virtue of what has already been explained, the “ANC of the Establishment” is not the real ANC. In addition to this and perhaps more importantly—there is no fundamental difference between the MK of 1961 and the MK Party of 2023.
What is meant by this?
Pursuant to discussions dating as far back as the 1950s between members of the Congress Alliance and their international partners (China and the [then] Soviet Union), a decision was taken at a sugar cane farm in Tongaat to form a political organisation called uMkhonto we Sizwe … Because the ANC was a non-violent organisation it was decided that MK should be an independent political organisation pursuing a clear political programme of armed resistance against the then oppressive regime.
What is important to extrapolate from this is that the MK of 1961 was an independent political organisation with its own distinct political programme of armed resistance. MK was not an army as it is contemporarily understood.
That MK politicians were militarily trained and equipped with arms to some degree by their international partners does not negate this. MK did not have the hallmarks of what defines an army. The organisation had no government of its own, funding it through taxes prescribed by state legislation. Furthermore, MK had no tankers, no missiles, no air-force and no navy.
From a capacity perspective, MK could not be classified as an army.
The armed resistance political programme of MK was secondary. What was primary was its correct ideological position of wanting to rescue the oppressed and also rescue the assets of the oppressed which entailed the then banned ANC. Beyond its name and logo this is what defined MK.
Congruency can therefore be established between the MK of 1961 and the MK Party of 2023.
Just as MK was formed by the then secretary-general of the ANC, Commander Walter Sisulu, MK Party was formed by no less than a former president of the ANC and head of state Jacob Zuma, who is also the former head of intelligence of MK. In addition to this, MK Party has expressed desire to rescue the oppressed and their ANC—something that the MK of 1961 did.
While the political programmes of these two entities may differ in the sense that MK Party’s programme is about taking control of government not armed resistance, this distinguishing factor is secondary.
What is foremost is that the primary founding factors are congruent therefore it can be concluded that MK Party is in fact a resuscitation of the old MK. In other words, save for the name, logo and registration with the IEC, there is no difference between uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) and uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party/MKP). The latter is a continuation of the former.
Once the above propositions are accepted, one might begin to appreciate that denouncing the ANC without taking into account that it has been hijacked by its changeling, is invariably throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
Overwhelming evidence points to the fact that the ANC is an institution that houses the liberation history of oppressed Africans throughout Southern Africa. Given this, the toil of our ancestors cannot then just be surrendered to the post 54th ANC conference arrangement of the establishment that is sustained through systematic judicial dictatorship.
For all intents and purposes, in instances where it was objectively impossible for the ANC to operate in the past, MK carried the proverbial struggle baton to its logical conclusion. MK Party exists to do the same.
On December 16, 2023, the big announcement that was preceded by a wreath laying ceremony at the graveside of fallen MK combatants, marked the official resuscitation of uMkhonto weSizwe by its former head of intelligence and now its current President—Commander Jacob Zuma.
uMkhonto we Sizwe was already formed by commanders Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela in 1961. It could not be formed for the second time on the 16th of December 2023. uMkhonto weSizwe has been resuscitated and will rescue the ANC—again.
* Athi Nyokana is the coordinator of MK Party in Mnquma sub-region and an activist who is passionate about uniting all liberation forces in Southern Africa. The views expressed here are his own.