By Zukile Majova
Political Editor
The MK party has locked itself into a strategy where its office-bearers will not go to Parliament but will be paid like MPs and ministers.
Party leader Jacob Zuma said the office-bearers – president, chairperson, secretary general, deputy secretary general and treasurer – will not be part of the 58 MPs.
But they have been promised the same monthly salary as MPs and ministers.
A minister in South Africa currently earns R2.4-million while deputy ministers are earning R1.9-million and MPs’ salaries start at R1.2-million.
Zuma opted for the same strategy in provinces.
But this is expected to attract a huge salary bill for the organisation that has lost a chance to run the over R150-billion KwaZulu-Natal provincial government.
At only six months old, the MK party does not run a single municipality and has no ward councillors either.
Ordinarily, parties demand monthly contributions from councillors, mayors, members of provincial legislatures, MPs and ministers.
The MK party recently reshuffled its candidates list for Parliament and provincial legislatures to exclude office-bearers.
“We are not doing this to go to Parliament. We are doing this to make changes in the country,” Zuma said.
“We can’t all of us go to Parliament. There’s too many things to do besides Parliament.”
Zuma said the party needed to build its structures and immediately consolidate support ahead of the 2026 local government elections.
It is not clear how the MK party will meet its salary bill but its national spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela previously said the party has not received funding from SA’s biggest companies.
Ndhlela has denied claims that the party received funding from Russian president Vladimir Putin.
“President Zuma and President Putin have enjoyed a relationship that goes back 40 years. They’re friends. But that’s not the same as the Russian government supporting the MK party,” he said.
The IEC said the MK party has not made any declaration about its funding sources.
Paying office-bearers at the level of ministers has bankrupted parties like the ANC, which has been battling to bring its monthly payroll under control for the past three years.
Pictured above: Jacob Zuma.
Source: X
