Mbeki claimed the same machinery used to produce the MK party’s results had not been dismantled.
As the ANC prepares for the local elections, former president Thabo Mbeki has stirred debate, claiming that the apartheid government’s national security management system (NSMS) was “activated” to deliver former president Jacob Zuma’s MK party’s electoral success to the detriment of the ANC.
Mbeki made the remarks during a conference of veterans of the ANC’s uMkhonto weSizwe wing in Bloemfontein last weekend.
MK party
Zuma’s party has seen phenomenal success as a result of “personality politics”.
According to a poll conducted on behalf of The Brenthurst Foundation in 2024, the MK party is the third largest party in the country with 15% in the polls behind the ANC at 39% and the DA at 27%.
It became the largest party in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) with 45% of the vote.
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Apartheid era
During his speech, Mbeki spoke about the MK party’s success.
Mbeki alleged that elements of this disbanded apartheid-era NSMS were “activated” to influence the success of the MK party in the 2024 elections, raising concerns about the potential persistence of old security networks.
“You have a new organisation, called the MK party, that suddenly gets this huge support in KZN, and Gauteng a bit, Mpumalanga a bit. Why?” Mbeki asked.
“Suddenly, the ANC drops. Why has this population suddenly decided to abandon the ANC? The activation of the NSMS, which produced that result, was because that machinery had never been dismantled.”
‘Not dismantled’
Mbeki claimed the same machinery used to produce that result had not been dismantled.
“You remember during this so-called war on war, black on black violence, those were IFP hostels. They were clash, big clash with the ANC communities, IFP decide themselves,” Mbeki said.
“These are IFP hostels. But what happened in 2024? They all abandoned the IFP and went with the MK party. Why? It’s because they are controlled by the same person.
“It’s the same person who controlled them when they were IFP hostels. The same person who controlled them when they were IFP hostels, the same person who controls them today as MK hostels, MK party hostels,” he said.
Zuma defeated Mbeki in 2007 to become the ANC leader and president of the country.
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National Security Management System
The NSMS was a sophisticated, authoritarian framework implemented by the apartheid government in the 1980s to combat internal resistance and maintain white minority rule.
It effectively militarised the state, turning national security into a total strategy that permeated every level of society.
The official NSMS structure was dismantled in the early 1990s as part of the transition to democracy.
MK responds to Mbeki
The MK party rejected Mbeki’s comments “as politically reckless, socially dangerous and intellectually dishonest”.
“It seeks to portray the MK party as a creation of ‘counter-revolutionary forces’ allegedly rooted in apartheid-era security structures.
“The Western Cape has, for decades, consistently voted for the DA. At no point was this outcome characterised by Mr Mbeki as ‘counter-revolutionary’, nor were its voters accused of being manipulated by shadowy forces.
“The conclusion is unavoidable: when communities vote against the ANC, their choices are delegitimised; when others do so, their choices are respected. This is not principle. It is prejudice,” the MK party said.
HIV/Aids
The MK party also slammed Mbeki for his failure in handling South Africa’s HIV/Aids crisis during his presidency.
“During his tenure as president, Mr Mbeki rejected established scientific consensus on HIV and AIDS, obstructed the rollout of antiretroviral treatment and elevated denialism into state policy at the height of a public health emergency.
“By attributing the MK party’s electoral support to covert manipulation rather than popular choice, Mr Mbeki implicitly asserts that millions of voters lack political agency; that poor and working-class communities are incapable of independent judgment and that electoral outcomes are only legitimate when they favour the ANC. This is not political analysis. It is paternalism dressed up as theory,” the party said.
Zuma’s party called on Mbeki to retract his comments.
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