The new kid on the political block

Former ANCYL spokesperson, EFF deputy president, and MK Party secretary general Floyd Shivambu has officially unveiled the Afrika Mayibuye Movement as a registered political party, with himself as president.

Speaking to the media over the weekend, he announced Robert Nwedo and Dr. Nolubabalo Mcinga as the party’s two deputies.

Nwedo serves as president of the Maanda Ashu Workers Union of South Africa, while Mcinga is a former Member of Parliament for Shivambu’s former affiliation, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

Shivambu said Mayibuye is a “unique, revolutionary response to all South Africans who lost faith in politics, reflected in the 2024 elections where only 39.7% of the voting-age population participated, compared to 89% turnout in 1994”.

According to Mayibuye’s manifesto, “the African National Congress (ANC) has dismally failed to deliver the promise of a better life for all.”

“There are currently no liberation alternatives to the ANC’s decline. Many attempts to reform the ANC from within have failed, and the other parties in existence are not a solution to the people of South Africa.”

“The biggest beneficiaries of post-1994 politics are the white capitalist elite, who retained economic power through protected property rights and BEE deals that enriched a few black partners while leaving the majority excluded,” said Shivambu.

The party calls “existing political formations that could replace the ANC with clear liberation, emancipation and freedom ideals and aspirations are corrupt, self-seeking, and cultish.”

Mayibuye is a self-proclaimed “scientific socialist” organisation, as explained in works like The Communist Manifesto.

Broadly, scientific socialism, developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, is a theory that emphasises “practical, evidence-based steps for revolution” over wishful thinking.

“The Afrika Mayibuye Movement will not be a cult. It will not be a family project. It will not be a scheme for self-enrichment,” said Shivambu referencing his former political homes.

Past political homes

Before forming the new party, Shivambu was fired as secretary general of Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) in June.

The party attributed this to a controversial visit to Malawi to attend an Easter service at self-proclaimed pastor Shepherd Bushiri’s church.

Bushiri was arrested and charged with fraud in South Africa in 2020. After being released on bail, he fled to his home country. South Africa has been trying to extradite him ever since.

Soon after his sacking, he announced the launch of the consultative process for a new party. The MK party said it had terminated his membership on 15 July. 

Shivambu joined the MK party in August of last year after over a decade in the EFF.

The founding deputy president of the far-left party since 2013, Shivambu was seen as the EFF’s ideological guru before his defection post 2024 general elections that saw the EFF’s support dip.

During his time at the red berets, he served as its long-time number two and MP for over a decade.

Controversially, he and Malema had been accused of receiving about R16 million in “gratification” from the boss of a now-liquidated bank after meeting him at a penthouse in an upmarket suburb of Johannesburg in 2017.

The allegation was made in a leaked witness statement by the bank’s disgraced boss, Tshifhiwa Matodzi, after he pleaded guilty to 33 counts of corruption, theft, fraud, money laundering and racketeering.

Shivambu and Malema deny any misconduct, but with an investigation ongoing and political opponents likely to continue the pressure, the scandal will persist for the foreseeable future.

Before this, after a stint as SRC President at Wits, he rose in the ranks of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) as a political ally of then-leader Malema.

Both Shivambu and Malema were ultimately expelled from the ANC in 2013 after being disciplined for actions believed to be polarising and harmful to the party’s leadership.