National ANC MP quits to join ATM
After announcing his resignation from parliament and defecting to the newly-established African Transformation Movement on Friday, Dr Zukile Luyenge has urged party “servants” to get going with the groundwork.
Speaking at the faith-based political party’s rally at the Baptist church in Quigney on Saturday, Luyenge told members at the packed venue that he had been inundated with calls from ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu’s office since his resignation.
“They have been calling me frequently. It’s the first time I’ve been called by that office; it’s as if I’m about to be promoted.”
However, Nonceba Mhlauli, the ANC’s parliamentary caucus spokesperson, denied Luyenge’s claim.
She said Mthembu’s office would write to National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete’s office, informing her that Luyenge was no longer a member of the ANC.
A conversation, Mhlauli said, “was common courtesy” and Mthembu had called to confirm whether the media reports were true.
Addressing “servants”, as ATM members refer to one another, Luyenge said: “Enough is enough. There is no need to stay where there is no progress.”
Without mentioning his former party by name, he lamented the nepotism, prioritisation of “expensive liquor, meat and desserts” and the neglecting of the poor he had experienced there and warned ATM members not to make the same mistakes.
Turning his attention to the future of his new party, Luyenge said: “Let’s engage in discussions to bring about a better SA.”
Also in attendance were former ANC MPs Nomakhaya Mdaka and Noluthando Qikana, and Sanco’s O R Tambo secretary Daluxolo Myeki, who have all joined the ATM.
Eastern Cape ATM spokesperson Veliswa Mvenya said their 200,000-member tally wasn’t a “thumb-suck”, and was derived from an audit.