Former president Jacob Zuma shared a moment of laughter with ADeC leader Visvin Reddy after their marathon meeting at Nkandla on Tuesday night. Photo supplied
As the Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party’s popularity and mystique continue to gain momentum across the country’s nine provinces , speculation has been rife as to what the immediate future holds for this recently registered political party.
If it’s not former president Jacob Zuma drumming up support at various venues, it’s the convoys and the printing of T- shirts and other regalia that have kept social media users and South Africans at large intrigued.
On Friday, the party is set to make a big announcement at a press briefing for Soweto’s June 16 Memorial, Central Western Jabavu, Soweto.
A source close to the situation indicated that the All African Alliance Movement (AAAM) will officially announce its alliance with the MK Party, which is why party leader, Chief senator, Archbishop Nchime Sophonia Tsekedi has called the media briefing.
In the past, the party has claimed to have more than 14 million supporters through various church formations.
“Remember that the AAAM party has strong ties with the churches and church leaders. That is why Zuma told guests in one of his addresses that he has been underground mobilising support with religious leaders. The AAAM Party is one of the biggest supporters of the MK Party through Archbishop Tsekedi,” the source said.
A party insider, who also wanted to remain anonymous, promised a big revelation today.
“I do not want to say much. This thing is big. Big people are involved. All will be revealed on Friday. Just know that the involvement of former president Zuma has really worked wonders as we had earmarked former Chief Justice, Mogoeng Mogoeng for this position, but when things didn’t work out, one of the leaders, who is a pastor, had a revelation to approach Zuma for this role,” the insider told The Star on Wednesday.
This week, sister publication the Sunday Tribune reported that African Democratic Change (ADeC) leader Visvin Reddy had a long meeting with Zuma at his Nkandla homestead, which started on Tuesday evening and lasted until 3am on Wednesday.
It was reported that even though some of the discussions were confidential, Reddy was able to confirm to sister publication the Daily News that his party would work with the MK party after this year’s general elections.
Reddy said his party was one of the like-minded parties that Zuma and the MK had met in discussing strategies on how to rescue the country from the ANC failures. He added that he had come to realise that small parties had no role in shaping national politics and therefore it was important to consider voting with like-minded parties in order to make a meaningful impact rather than barking alone in the opposition benches with no one to take you seriously because “you are just small fish in the big pond’’.
“We discussed various pertinent issues with Zuma and it is true that my party would form a coalition government with MK as I believe that MK will garner enough votes to lead the government after elections,” said Reddy. | Additional reporting by Willem Phungula
The Star
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