South Africa’s uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party has taken an aggressive campaigning strategy directly to church congregations ahead of May 29th elections, while mockingly claiming the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has been rebuffed from those same platforms.
In a taunting social media post, the MK party declared “MK Party is in Churches!! Abazalwane are the ones campaigning for MK at churches.”
It then poked fun at the ANC’s efforts, stating: “Meanwhile leaders of ANC of Ramaphosa are busy going to churches this weekend and abafundisi are refusing to give them the platform.”
The MK party, which takes its name from the now-disbanded ANC armed wing, has emerged as a potential disrupting force in the upcoming polls. It is reportedly being fronted by former President Jacob Zuma following his ousting from the ANC in 2018 amid corruption scandals.
Two recent opinion polls suggest it is making surprising gains – projected to win around 13% of the national vote and an astonishing 25% in Zuma’s KwaZulu-Natal stronghold.