Top MK vets withdraw

The controversial national conference planned by the Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) hangs in the balance following the withdrawal of three top leaders.

The organisation’s deputy chairperson Jacob Monama, its general secretary Dumisani Nduli and deputy general secretary Tshidiso Paka have pulled out of the elective conference at the last minute, complaining that they would not be party to a “fraudulent” gathering.

“As issues stand, we have it on good authority that about 60% of the more than 700 delegates that were registered yesterday do not have ascertainable bona fides as MK military veterans,” the trio said in a statement.

“Given that a huge number of those veterans, who have aligned themselves with the MK national council, also do not have any form of representation in the forthcoming MKMVA conference, we hold that it would be incorrect for this conference to be viewed as a constitutional gathering of MKMVA with the powers to elect a new leadership.”

The veterans’ plea to ANC leaders to broker an agreement between the factions, with the aim of constituting a legal conference, has fallen on deaf ears, as President Jacob Zuma has agreed to endorse the presently planned conference.

The ANC yesterday confirmed that Zuma would be giving an opening address at the gathering taking place east of Johannesburg.

The three leaders have taken a dim view of this as they see the action as “divisive”.

“We must also strongly express our disappointment with the leadership of the ANC in allowing this conference to take place amidst this cloud of wrongdoing that can only serve to tarnish the name of our movement with an undesirable factional posture,” they said.

The trio’s withdrawal from the conference follows the stance of the MK steering committee, led by General Siphiwe Nyanda, who this week described faction leader Kebby Maphatsoe’s actions to go ahead with the elective conference as “treacherous and divisive”.

Maphatsoe’s decision to continue with the elective conference was in defiance of the ANC’s national executive committee’s decision to bring feuding factions together.

However, Maphatsoe told The Citizen that the trio abandoned the movement eight days ago, while preparations for the conference were underway.

He said the MK veterans association is better off without them.

“They have failed this movement. We are happy that they left, because they were useless,” said Maphatsoe.

“They ran away because they cannot present reports to this conference.” .