Leader of the Patriotic Alliance (PA) Gayton McKenzie says anybody who says they are not worried about MK Party leader Jacob Zuma is fooling themselves.
While speaking during a Biznews discussion this week, McKenzie said that Zuma is the wrecking ball of the upcoming general elections.
His sentiments come just as the MK Party won a case against the ANC at the Electoral Court after the ruling party applied to the courts in a bid to get the recently established MK Party to be de-registered by the IEC.
“Jacob Zuma is the wrecking ball of this coming elections. They are all worried about Zuma. I am not subservient to the DA, and John Steenhuisen has got pre-94 tendencies.
“Anybody that’s not worried about Jacob Zuma has not been paying attention or they are simply playing to the gallery. Jacob Zuma keeps people busy... At home, they are strategising on how they can stop him. He’s filling up places wherever he goes. So, I am not going to sit here and say he is not a threat,” he said.
McKenzie’s sentiments were also shared by political funder and businessman Rob Hersov, who in his last speech as a political activist, said Zuma was the most popular politician in the country.
“Jacob Zuma is by far the most popular politician in this country, including in the Eastern Cape. I know most of you do not believe it, but it is true,” he said.
Zuma surprised many when on December 16 he announced that he would not campaign or vote for the governing party and instead endorsed the MK Party.
Since then, Zuma has embarked on a vigorous campaign as the MK Party has set up branches and structures in all nine provinces.
The ANC subsequently suspended Zuma without undergoing a disciplinary process, which is reported to only be taking place after the May 29 elections.
The Zuma factor in the MK Party has seen the party grow in leaps and bounds across five provinces, with more new members claiming the party as their own.
This popularity and involvement of Zuma in active politics has resulted in two separate court challenges by the ruling ANC, who today is squaring off with the MK Party at the Durban High Court. This time, the ANC wants to retain the rights to the name and logo of the MK Party.
The Zuma factor has also been instrumental in luring other former ANC leaders into the MK Party, such as Mervyn Dirks, Lulamile Jack and Nkosentsha Shezi, who defected from the EFF following his association with Carl Niehaus’ Areta.
Last month, Independent Media reported that the MK Party could do better than the EFF in the elections after the latest poll found it could get 13% of the national vote. The Brenthurst Foundation poll, conducted in February, found that the EFF support could remain at 10%.
The Star