Shivambu to consult over forming new political party

However, Shivambu said he had no intention of resigning as a member of the MKP.

Shivambu made the announcement during a media briefing in Midrand.

He has announced that he plans to consult broad groupings over forming a new party to contest the 2026 local government elections.

"If we were to form a political party, let us go to the people of South Africa and ask them if they want to have a political party. We can't form a political party as a group of friends and a few individuals,” Shivambu said.

"A political party should never be an individual project where you feel like, I want to start a political party, and then you start it. It must never be a family project. It's very dangerous to have political parties which are family-run.

"A political party must not be a tribal or ethnic project. In South Africa today, a political party must not be regional; it must not even be a provincial party. A political party must not be a platform for self-enrichment, it must not be a fiefdom, it must not be a cult.

"If anything, a political party should be a fighting instrument and vehicle for the people of South Africa, must deeply espouse the principles of democracy and democratic consultations in terms of how decisions are taken.

"It must be transparent and must be accountable in the way that it does. So, to the comrades who came to say, let us form a political party, we said that we can't take that decision. Let us subject that process to the people of South Africa."

Shivambu slammed what he called a “bizarre and fabricated intelligence report,” alleging it accused him of wielding “supernatural powers” in the MKP, capable of making people vanish.

"The reason given by the national officials for my deployment or removal as secretary general was that I want to overthrow President Zuma as the president of uMkhonto weSizwe, that all the work that we were doing as secretary general of establishing structures and identifying leaders was meant to help me clear the removal of President Zuma as President of uMkhonto weSizwe.

“As part of that reason, an extremely bizarre and fake intelligence report was produced, which was claimed to be a conversation between me and some people on the African continent, where it is alleged that despite raising money to remove President Zuma. I'm also accumulating supernatural powers to make people disappear. That is the reason why we got.

"We had to deal with superstitious issues as the basis of what happens that this, apparently a head which I was going to be given, to give to someone, and some people were going to die so that I can become President of uMkhonto weSizwe.

"That was the intelligence report which was rejected with contempt and say that that is absolute rubbish and say that if anyone seems to have my WhatsApp conversations I can hand over my phone, I even offered in the meeting that, take my phone and check not only the messages that you claim were about the removal of President Zuma, also check any other message about anything that I communicate as a leader of uMkhonto weSizwe.

"There is a principle which I always uphold that there is nothing that I do privately that I cannot own up publicly, including personal relations. There is nothing that I will ever do privately which we cannot own up publicly, and we accepted the redeployment of Parliament with those misgivings.

"In a subsequent meeting post that, another fake report was presented, which claims to be WhatsApp conversations between me and someone else, I am reported to be saying that I am going to use Parliament now to take over the party and I have got money from Stellenbosch, who are going to take over the party through Parliament."

Shivambu said the letter was then placed in Zuma's briefcase so he could readily issue it to him when he was ready.

He said Zuma, whom he respected, was surrounded by "political scoundrels" who wanted to loot party funds.

"When you sit down, when you stand up, when you go out, when you go in, it's a problem. I have got tremendous respect for President Zuma; I think I have learned more in the six months in MKP than as a deputy president in the 11 years of the EFF.

"Under no circumstances will I ever fault Jacob Zuma. I thought his politics, character, and legacy should be protected. Since the decision to remove me as secretary general, there have been a lot of ordinary South Africans and comrades from MKP, EFF, and ANC who asked about the way forward.

"There are those that said do not rejoin the EFF because it's a cult, and I agree with them. There is no self-respecting individual who can join the ANC and EFF. There are those who said the MKP has weaknesses and is run by a family. Instead of throwing insults at MKP, we have to play a role."

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