Once again, former president Jacob Zuma has pulled a “no-show” at a rally at Senwabarwana in Limpopo but this time due to his safety being threatened, Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party said.
Zuma was supposed to address a Freedom Day Rally in the area after traditional leader Kgoshi TJ Maleboho invited him as a guest.
He did not show up at an Eastern Cape rally last month as he said he had to attend a funeral service of one of his comrades.
In an interview with the SABC, MKP’s provincial leader Cyril Jack confirmed that the party leader could not attend due to security reasons.
"I can confirm that the president, due to security reasons, could not make it. We received the message late yesterday, and you people in the media understand it better and going through social media, you’d understand due to what happened yesterday,” he said.
This comes after Jabulani Khumalo, the founder, and a man who registered the party was fired along with other several members.
The reason for their dismissal was that the party wanted to cleanse itself from the rogue elements that would blur its lines to the two-thirds majority.
In a statement, MKP highlighted that Zuma had requested Khumalo to register the party on his behalf but due to “aims of advancing the revolution of the people” he was booted out.
In January, the party faced leadership challenges and announced a restraining order against its owner.
According to the party, Khumalo had no mandate to stand on behalf of the party as he was not elected as president, saying he did not contribute to MK’s growth.
Meanwhile, Jack maintained that their campaign drive has been going strong since day one.
“Remember, we are the only party that has been running mini rallies, motorcades as well as meet and greets. We started very on set, understanding that we are running from zero budget, we had to be proactive in terms of our programmes,” he said.
The party has been campaigning across the country.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
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