Black, yellow, and green were the Mkhonto weSizwe colours flying high in various parts of Soweto over the weekend. The party has been campaigning and preparing for the national elections on May 29, 2024.
uMkhonto we Sizwe (meaning Spear of the Nation). The party is named after uMkhonto we Sizwe (also shortened to MK), the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC) during apartheid. The MK political party was founded in December 2023.
The MK party had a walking campaign in Chiawelo Ward 11; they were heard singing and chatting “forward with a two-thirds majority forward.” The chairperson said, “Nelson Mandela had a long walk to freedom, but the MK has a long walk to total liberation.”
Mthokozisi Dlamini, the MK Party’s regional convener in Johannesburg, states that in 1994 we got a half-baked liberation, and now we want to complete this liberation by having a total liberation. Without land, our people cannot have total liberation; without the economy, that’s not liberation; if the reserve bank is not nationalised, it’s not yet uhuru; if these mines are not nationalised, it’s not yet uhuru; if the education system is not yet decolonized, it’s not yet uhuru; if our students are still paying to go to varsity, it’s not yet uhuru;
In February 2024, the party contested its first election, finishing third with 19% of the vote in the ward 8 by elecions in the Abaqulusi Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, behind the Inkatha Freedom Party(IFP) on 47% and the African National Congress (ANC) on 35%.
Later that month, the party again finished third, winning 28% of the vote in an uPhongolo by-election, behind the IFP on 36% and the ANC on 33%.
On February 28, 2024, the party contested a by-election in Goven Mbeki in Mpumalanga, its first outside KwaZulu-Natal, finishing second at 28% behind the ANC at 51k.
Mr. Dlamini says, “The main aim of this walk is to conscientize people and let them know that uMkhonto Wesizwe is here. The people have joined uMkhonto Wesizwe in large numbers, and we are preparing them for the upcoming national elections on the 29th of May.”
He further states that the MK Party will drive people to total liberation.
A MK member who wanted to remain anonymous said, “There’s a lot of pressure they received from the ANC in Chiawelo because they are not happy about the MK.”
He further cites that if this tension isn’t contained, the possibilities of it becoming violent are high.
