By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former Johannesburg Speaker, Cope and SARA leader Colleen Makhubele has become the latest high-profile leader to join the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK) Party.
Makhubele was previously a member of the Congress of the People (Cope) before she was fired by the party in November last year.
Cope claimed Makhubele “lied” about the organisation being part of the newly-formed coalition pact, the South African Rainbow Alliance (Sara), which she had formed.
Makhubele said, MK party has become a “beacon of hope to unite and rally African leaders and their people”.
“This giant leap that I am taking today is a great and historical step towards a role and responsibility that we, as young leaders of South Africa, especially women leaders in this generation, must rise, be counted, and volunteer ourselves to carry,” she said.
Makhubele said the MK party will steer South Africa into the “future, bringing about constructive transformation and advancement in African society.
“Without any fear of contradiction, we must acknowledge and accord MK party its place in history as a serious organisation, intent on bringing a new style of leadership, science, and organised unity to black politics,” she said.
Makhubele said she believes the MK party has provided the “platform for young progressive leaders to find a political home for expression and service”.
On Wednesday, the MK Party welcomed new members of parliament (MPs), including corruption-accused former Transnet executives Brian Molefe and Siyabonga Gama, as well former Prasa CEO Lucky Montana.
Molefe, Gama and Montana were implicated in State Capture during the Zuma era by the State Capture Commission of inquiry.
Molefe faces fraud, corruption and money-laundering charges stemming from the inflated tender to procure 1 064 locomotives to upgrade the logistics company’s ageing fleet.
The commission found that Molefe was at the centre of the Gupta brothers’ looting of Transnet coffers. He is due back in court along with former Transnet chief financial officer Anoj Singh in October.
Gama was reinstated at Transnet Freight Rail a week after Molefe was appointed, despite having been fired for serious irregularities the previous year. The Zondo report found that after his reinstatement, Gama was “centrally involved in key transactions that favoured the Gupta enterprise”. He also faces charges of corruption and money-laundering.
The commission held that Montana directed who should receive lucrative tenders while he headed the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa between 2010 and 2015.