MZANSI politics is usually boring.
This is due to the rhetoric and empty promises that our politicians make every day. But the formation of a new political party with the strange name uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) has brought some comic relief to a country plagued by load shedding, corruption, unemployment and many other social ills.
Since the party was endorsed by former president Jacob Zuma on 16 December, people have taken to social media to poke fun at it and make all sorts of jokes.
Some users said looting was imminent because this was a party for those who looted during the July 2021 unrest.
Others said the good thing about the MK is that no one is discriminated against because they are not part of the armed struggle. Everyone is new to the party. uMkhonto we Sizwe was an ANC armed struggle that was disbanded on 16 December 1993, exactly 30 years before its namesake political party was formed.
Other users said the new party wasted no time in stripping the ANC of its shield and spear, leaving only the wheel. This is because MK also uses a spear and shield in its logo.
Others said Mzansi had not experienced any load shedding since the party was formed and therefore deserved their votes. 2023 could easily go down in history as the year in which more new political parties were founded than in any other year.
The new parties include former DA leader Mmusi Maimane's Build One South Africa (Bosa), Xiluva founded by Bongani Baloyi, the African Amalgamated Restorative Movement (AARM) and Change Starts Now started by businessman Roger Jardine. And they all promise a better life for all, something many South Africans have heard before.
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The EFF celebrated the 10th anniversary of its party with a rally at the FNB Stadium on 29 July. Party leader Julius Malema told the packed stadium that the EFF will take over the government in 2024.
There was also the formation of the Multi-Party Charter, a coalition comprising DA, ActionSA, IFP, FF+ and the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), among others. The bloc was formed to offer voters an alternative government in 2024.
The resignation of ANC veteran Mavuso Msimang from the party earlier in December shocked Mzansi.
He justified his departure from the ruling party with the "perception that its members and deployees are corrupt", intolerance and failures in service delivery. But a week later he made a U-turn after meeting the ANC's top brass.
Former ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule founded his own party called the African Congress for Transformation (ACT) in August. Magashule, who is facing allegations of corruption and fraud, has brought former Hawks leader Berning Ntlemeza on board as one of the party's leading figures.
The ANC panicked when Ezulweni Investments, which is owed millions of rands by the ruling party for unpaid services related to the 2019 national election campaign, threatened to liquidate.
Shafique Sarlie, the lawyer representing Ezulweni, said his clients were considering the seizure and sale of ANC assets to recover the R150 million owed to the company. The sheriff did go to the ANC headquarters, Luthuli House, but no assets were seized.
Deputy President Paul Mashatile was accused of living in luxury homes paid for by allegedly corrupt individuals.
In November, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that he had officially appointed Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka as Mzansi’s new public protector.
Zuma was jailed in August. He was released after spending just over an hour in the correctional facility. He was ordered to return to Estcourt Prison in KZN on Friday, 11 August, in terms of a Constitutional Court, ruling - which he unsuccessfully appealed.
