Durban — Scores of uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) loyal supporters are expected to flock to Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban for the party’s first anniversary on Sunday.

It all started on 16 December 2023 when former president of the ANC and state president Jacob Zuma stunned many when he officially endorsed the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), peeling away from the ANC, a party he claims to have joined when he was 17 years old.

One year on, the party is the third largest nationally after the ANC and the DA, while the biggest in KwaZulu-Natal after toppling the struggling ANC from the prime political seat, a privilege it had enjoyed since 2004.

However, the journey to the first anniversary has been loaded with many hurdles, including the unending legal battles and infighting that have plunged the party into chaos and turned former comrades into enemies.

The first test that was thrown the MKP’s way came from the Luthuli House, ANC headquarters, in April, after the party dragged Zuma to court for “using our heritage” in relation to the name and logo of uMkhonto weSizwe - the now-defunct ANC armed wing during the fight against apartheid.

The rabble-rousing ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula angrily called the MKP “thieves”.

The ANC wanted the Durban High Court to bar the MKP from using the name uMkhonto weSizwe and the logo during the May 29 elections. The ANC lost. The matter went all the way to the Supreme Court of Appeals.

The ANC’s decision to haul the MKP to court on the eve of the high-stakes May elections was described by many pundits as a tactical blunder at the time, with many of them arguing that the ANC was indirectly elevating the MKP profile by dragging it into court.

Judging by the May elections, it appears they had a point.

The MKP was granted permission to use the name and logo during the election, where the new entrant raked in 14% nationally and 45% in KZN – a feat it achieved after a runoff with parties such as the ANC formed in 1912, the DA and Julius Malema’s EFF.

As the MKP’s spirited solid campaign was unfolding, internally, cracks were widening between Zuma and MKP founder Jabulani Khumalo, who claimed he was the legitimate leader of the party.

As the tension between the former allies turned nemesis boiled, Zuma abruptly expelled Khumalo from the party in May.

Khumalo took the party to court but was unsuccessful, proving a fatal political mistake. MKP alleged that he was bankrolled by some senior ANC leaders to destroy the party. He now finds himself in the political wilderness.

Despite winning 58 seats in the National Assembly and 37 in KZN – a feat no new party had ever achieved in the country, MKP members of Parliament refused to go to the official opening of Parliament in July, claiming that the elections were rigged with as many as 9.3 million votes unaccounted for.

However, they later caved in.

But the excitement for the 18 MPs was short-lived after Zuma – who has the sole supreme authority to fire and replace MPs and other office-bearers – sacked them in August.

Among them was the prominent Thamsanqa Khuzwayo - who once led the MKP Student Movement as its co-ordinator.

Infuriated, they fought and again pulled the party to the Western Cape High Court, wanting to halt the swearing-in of their replacements.

In September, the court ruled against ten of the 18 MKP MPs, whom the party labelled “recalcitrant litigants”.

While the MKP was engaged in legal wranglings, the party was busy secretly poaching heavyweight political leaders from other parties, such as the ANC and the EFF.

Among them is EFF former deputy president Floyd Shivambu, who unceremoniously resigned from the party in August – a move that stunned many who did not see this coming.

His departure led to the Red Berets’ bleeding as many other senior and prominent leaders followed him. Shivambu is now the secretary-general of the MKP after he was elevated from his previous role as national organiser.

In October, EFF MP and former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane dumped the party and joined MKP, followed by former EFF national chairperson Dali Mpofu – who doubles as Zuma’s lawyer, in November.

In KZN, Zuma’s political strategy seemed to have paid off after former ANC strongman Willies Mchunu joined the party in November and was soon appointed as provincial co-ordinator.

As Zuma’s MKP gears up for its first anniversary, questions abound about whether the party will be able to sustain its growing influence in the coming years.

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MK Party prepares for its first anniversary