Manyi targeted as MK party feels fallout after Zuma’s meeting with Ajay Gupta in India
· Citizen
Following former president Jacob Zuma’s trip to India, where he met with a member of the controversial Gupta family, there are calls from those close to him in the party for Mzwanele Manyi to be held accountable for this trip.
Manyi is an MK party MP. He is also the spokesperson for the Jacob G. Zuma Foundation and is known to have enjoyed a close relationship with the Gupta family before they fled South Africa.
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In a recent media briefing in India, Zuma said he had always intended to visit his “friend and brother” Ajay Gupta. Zuma has since been criticised for meeting with a fugitive, with some calling it “insulting”.
International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola said Zuma’s visit risks undermining official diplomatic processes.
The role of South Africa’s High Commissioner to India, Anil Sooklal, has also been questioned after he was seen at the media briefing in India.
‘Manyi-Gupta entanglement’
It seems the fallout is being felt in the MK party.
The party’s former head of presidency, Magasela Mzobe, took to his X account to say Manyi should account for the trip.
“I hope the MK party leadership won’t entangle itself, the president and our movement into this Manyi-Gupta entanglement. Cde Mzwanele Manyi and the Jacob Zuma Foundation must take full responsibility for the Indian trip presented to the president as a private visit for religious purposes.
“In the 18 months I spent as MK party head of presidency, never once did President Zuma or the leadership of MK party have any interaction with the Guptas or any of their associates. I appeal to the leadership to protect the president and our movement and hold Manyi accountable for this, like we did with Duduzile on the Russia debacle and Floyd [Shivambu] on Malawi,” said Mzobe.
Warning about the trip?
Mzobe’s remarks received support from Zuma’s daughter, Duduziile Zuma-Sambudla, who also believes Manyi should take the blame. She claimed that Manyi was warned not to visit India.
“Mzwanele Manyi must indeed take full responsibility before we start speaking, because we warned them about this trip!” she said on X.
‘Zuma is not a child’
However, MK party supporter Nathi Sithole responded to Mzobe’s post, saying it would be unfair to blame Manyi entirely.
“You are grandstanding as usual, treating President Zuma like a child who can’t think for himself? This is actually wrong from you, President Zuma is an adult who can think for himself, even what he said there, he wasn’t even reading. You are giving the public an impression that President Zuma can’t think for himself and take decisions.”
Manyi blames ‘bottled up hatred’
Manyi refused to respond to questions from The Citizen about the trip. In his response on Friday, he said: “Enjoy your weekend.”
He was, however, willing to comment about those blaming him.
“If you had done a bit of research, you would have known without talking to me that my accusers are suffering from acute ignorance and bottled up hatred of me.”
Meanwhile, the MK party’s spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu has responded to the criticism of Zuma’s meeting with Ajay Gupta.
“Zuma is a private citizen and is entitled to travel wherever he chooses,” he said.
“His visit to India is not unprecedented. He has attended this annual event for many years, dating back to around 2012, and has a longstanding relationship with Priest Niranjani Akhara Mahamandaleshwar Swami Kailashanand Giri.”
Mahlangu also tried to equate Zuma’s India trip to that of official visits involving President Cyril Ramaphosa. He criticised Ramaphosa for previously meeting Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, “whose government has been accused by international human rights organisations of crimes against humanity”.
He also criticised South Africa’s president for meeting Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the leader of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces. This, despite Ramaphosa calling for an “immediate cease-fire” in the war during the meeting.
Lastly, Mahlangu used the example of South African MPs visiting Prophet Shepherd Bushiri, who is also a fugitive from justice in South Africa. Mahlangu, however, seemed to ignore that Floyd Shivambu was fired from the MK party after he visited Bushiri.
Zuma using diplomatic passport problematic
Political analyst Theo Neethling said there are several problems with Zuma’s latest visit to India.
“Former president Zuma’s recent private trip to India apparently involved the use of state-funded diplomatic protocol and security after South Africa’s High Commissioner to India, Anil Sooklal, was documented accompanying him.
“This has sparked political backlash, with the DA and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation demanding an investigation into the government’s facilitation of the visit. The primary controversy stems from Zuma -who travels on an official diplomatic passport – visiting the country to meet with Ajay Gupta, a fugitive implicated in widespread allegations of state capture,” said Neethling.
Meanwhile, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) has ordered a probe into why Sooklal provided this official support and whether it constituted a parallel foreign policy on the part of the former head of state.
“If this is accurate, former president Zuma has transgressed the protocols of foreign representation and effectively conducted parallel official diplomacy of some kind.
“Lastly, to visit the Gupta brothers is highly controversial and questionable, and no amount of political spin will make right what is fundamentally problematic in this regard,” said Neethling.