uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) leader Jacob Zuma has begun a week-long courtesy visit to traditional kingdoms in the OR Tambo district of the Eastern Cape.
The visit is aimed at strengthening and consolidating working relations between the party and traditional councils across the province.
The MK Party’s national, provincial and regional leadership is accompanying Zuma during the visit, which began in the Mthatha area.
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Zuma’s first stop was a local church in Zimbane Valley, where he addressed congregants on challenges affecting black communities.
He said the MK Party’s basic principle was to ensure that poor and impoverished communities were taken care of. Among the issues he discussed were youth unemployment, free basic education and crime.
“Today we have so many graduates who cannot find jobs. There are those who do not want our children to be employed. They want us to remain poor. With us, there will be no black people who will suffer with poverty just because they are black. No church will suffer while assisting our people just because it is led by a black person.”
MK Party Raises Eastern Cape Unemployment And Poverty Concerns
MK Party secretary-general and Member of Parliament Sibonelo Nomvalo said the party’s visit to the Eastern Cape was not about electioneering.
However, he called on political parties to conscientise people in the province to reject parties that do not serve their interests.
“We want to conscientize the people of the Eastern Cape that they shouldn’t be viewed as people who are indoctrinated into a party that doesn’t serve their interests. The Eastern Cape is underprivileged, the most underprivileged province in the country, but the people continue to vote for the ANC.”
“What does that mean? It means political parties are not doing enough political work on the ground to conscientize the people of the Eastern Cape that enough is enough. The time for an alternative voice for the people of the Eastern Cape has come and that alternative voice is the MK Party,” explains Nomvalo.
Sibonelo Nomvalo Defends MK Party Leadership Changes
Nomvalo also defended the MK Party’s recent leadership changes, saying the decisions were made after careful consideration.
“The issue of changing positions is informed by the material conditions which are affecting the party. It’s not a spontaneous event. It doesn’t happen haphazardly, it happens after the party has applied its mind comprehensively and after it has applied the state of the organization, the material conditions and after it has dissected and arrived to a conclusion of which character is needed at what particular time. So, it’s not a spontaneous thing that happens because we are just showcasing leadership,” he adds.
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Following his engagement in Zimbane Valley, Zuma visited AmaMpondo aseNyandeni King Ndlovuyezwe Ndamase.
The MK Party is expected to continue its Eastern Cape programme with a visit to the AmaMpondomise Kingdom in Qumbu on Monday.
