Former president Jacob Zuma is intensifying efforts to unite his uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), declaring that together they "must be in charge of this country"—a move that could reshape South Africa's fragmented opposition landscape and challenge the governing coalition.
The push for an MK-EFF alliance comes months after South Africa's May 2024 elections produced no outright majority, forcing the African National Congress to form a Government of National Unity (GNU) with the Democratic Alliance and smaller parties. Both MK and the EFF—populist parties campaigning on radical economic transformation—now sit in opposition, where Zuma argues they can achieve more by combining forces.
"We represent the masses who want genuine change, not these neoliberal policies," Zuma reportedly told supporters at a recent rally. "The MK and EFF must unite to be in charge of this country."
The electoral arithmetic is compelling. MK, Zuma's vehicle for political comeback after his acrimonious split with the ANC, won approximately 14 percent of the national vote in its debut election. The EFF, led by Julius Malema, secured around 9 percent. Combined, their roughly 23 percent would create the second-largest opposition bloc—though still far short of governing.
But the proposal raises questions about whether this represents genuine ideological alignment or personality-driven politics. Both parties campaign on economic radicalism—land expropriation without compensation, mine nationalization, expanded social grants. Both position themselves as representing Black South Africans frustrated by slow economic transformation three decades after apartheid's end.
Yet tensions exist. , a former ANC Youth League firebrand who founded the EFF in 2013, built his party's identity partly around anti-corruption rhetoric—making alliance with , whose presidency was marred by corruption scandals and politically awkward. was forced to resign in 2018 under pressure from his own party, and was later jailed (briefly) for contempt of court.



