Floyd Shivambu’s new ‘party’ will contest elections

Former MK Party secretary-general, EFF co-founder and deputy president, and ANCYL spokesperson Floyd Shivambu has announced that his newly formed Africa Mayibuye Movement will take part in next year’s local government elections.

This announcement was made during a public consultation in Midrand on Saturday, part of a series of events he has held around the country to test the waters for a fully-fledged party.

While the consultation process is still ongoing, Shivambu told attendees that the decision to contest had already been made.

“We will contest the local government elections in 2026 and we will contest the general elections in 2029 and we will win. However, that is not the only thing we must focus on. If we just become an electoral platform, we might as well not do it.”

Shivambu’s announcement follows his departure from Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, where he briefly served as secretary-general before being removed from the post.

At a press conference on Friday, MK Party chairperson Nathi Nhleko said the party’s leadership had concluded that Shivambu had “publicly defined himself outside the ranks and ideological line of the MK Party,” and that this amounted to a breach of trust.

“As a result, a decision was taken to summarily terminate his membership, and a formal letter of expulsion was sent to him on July 15, 2025,” Nhleko said.

The MK Party indicated it would not engage further on the matter.

Shivambu’s departure from the MK Party followed months of internal friction, starting soon after his August 2024 move from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to MK, where his rapid rise to secretary-general in November 2024 angered sections of the membership.

Tensions escalated in April 2025 when he undertook an unauthorised trip to Malawi to meet fugitive preacher Shepherd Bushiri, a move the party viewed as a serious breach of protocol.

This incident, along with accusations of abuse of office, leaking confidential information, and fuelling factionalism, led to his removal from the secretary-general role in June 2025.

Shivambu rejected the party’s actions, claiming he was being targeted for exposing alleged corruption involving millions of rand.

Shivambu had accused some MKP leaders of stealing R7 million every month. MKP Treasurer-General Mpiyakhe Limba said Shivambu left the party with a debt of R28 million.

He then launched the “Mayibuye Consultation Process” to explore forming a new political movement, a step that further strained relations.

Shivambu’s political career has involved multiple shifts in party affiliation: from the ANC, to co-founding the EFF in 2013 alongside Julius Malema, to joining the MK Party in 2024, and now leading his own movement.

Analysts note that while new political formations regularly emerge in South Africa, few survive beyond one election cycle. Whether the Africa Mayibuye Movement can build lasting support remains uncertain.