Part of Zuma birthday celebrations a bid to dispute negative presidency narratives: MK Party

JOHANNESBURG - The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party said part of countrywide birthday celebrations for its leader, Jacob Zuma, is a bid to dispute the narrative of a so-called wasted 9 years during his presidency.

Zuma, who served nearly two terms as the country’s president, has been criticised by some in his former political home – the African National Congress (ANC) – over what many have described as a period marked by uncertainty policy, and the weakening of state institutions.

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In previous responses, Zuma has hit back at these claims.

He’s now being backed by supporters of the party he founded when he defected from the ANC in the build up to 2024 general elections.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Gauteng leg of Zuma’s 83rd birthday celebration in Soweto on Saturday, the secretary general of the MK Party, Floyd Shivambu, said Zuma’s presidency had the opposite effect.

“The theme for all the lectures in all the provinces is to now contest that narrative that President Zuma has wasted South Africa’s opportunities when he was president. 

"We are going to firmly speak on his legacy, his revolutionary contributes and also articulate his visionary as to what becomes the agenda moving forward in terms of total emancipation and the full realisation of the Freedom Charter objectives.”