By Celani Sikhakhane
Thobani Zuma, a relative of former president Jacob Zuma, has been accused of working with the ANC to destroy the uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party.
Thobani, in turn, has accused MK members of trying to destroy his image with their allegations.
Thobani, a former deputy mayor of the uMsunduzi local municipality in Pietermaritzburg, was appointed as the MK coordinator in KwaZulu-Natal after former president Zuma announced his support for the party.
An accusation that Thobani has been working with MK leaders to persuade them to vote with the ANC and IFP at the KZN Legislature has been circulating on social media.
Thobani said there are people in MK spreading lies about him to show him as a sellout. Those circulating the rumour are not known.
“It is heartbreaking to me that there are comrades who lied about me and claim that I am working with other ANC leaders to destroy uMkhonto weSizwe Party. I have never done that, and I will continue to work with uMkhonto weSizwe Party to grow the structures.
“There are people out there who are destroying my image in the MK Party, and I will never allow it,” said Zuma.
Zuma is from the larger Zuma clan from Mpendle, outside Pietermaritzburg.
He has supported former president Zuma in court since the former president was arrested in 2006 for the rape case of Khwezi Khuzwayo.
Thobani Zuma was among the leadership of the uMsunduzi local municipality that was recalled alongside businessman Themba Njilo, who was mayor in 2016.
In 2018, Thobani was accused of corruption, and members of the ANC staged a mass protest against him, accusing him of corruption and “running the municipality like his own house”.
The members carried placards with the words, “Thobani must go”.
The MK has seen many members leaving, accused of being spies.
Last week, former KZN director general Nhlanhla Ngidi resigned from the party after claiming he was abused and threatened with guns while working to build structures in Port Shepstone, Lower South Coast of KZN.
Ngidi was among 37 MK people blocked from being sworn in as members of the KZN Legislature.
Pictured above: Former uMsunduzi local municipality deputy mayor Thobani Zuma.
Source: X.
