Tony Yengeni dumps ANC for Zuma’s MK Party

Convicted fraudster Tony Yengeni has been announced as the latest ANC veteran to jump ship and join Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party.

Yengeni, a former member of the ANC’s national executive committee, is now the MK Party’s second deputy president, alongside first president John Hlophe, Zuma announced in Durban on Thursday.

According to the MK Party, the move to to create a second deputy president position was necessitated by Zuma’s frequent international trips.

“He [Zuma] has taken a decision to appoint a second deputy president to oversee internal and broader political organisational issues. Comrade Dr Hlophe continues to be deputy president focusing on the work of the party in Parliament,” the party said in a statement.

Yengeni’s speech

After he was unveiled, Yengeni chronicled his time in the ANC and his history of friendly relations with the former president, which includes when Zuma roped him in as a representative during the MK Party president’s ANC disciplinary hearing in 2024. Zuma was charged with starting MK Party and eventually terminated from the liberation party.

Yengeni also turned his attention to South Africa’s justice system, labelling the years-long Arms Deal case still plaguing Zuma – set for trial in 2026 – as “justice denied”. In a recent development, Zuma was found financially liable for years for legal fees paid on his behalf the state: he has to pay back nearly R30 milllion with 60 days.

Arms Deal history

Ironically, Yengeni was convicted of fraud for his part in the case. He was found to have received a discount on a Mercedes-Benz SUV from one of the bidders for a contract during the Arms Deal procurement period. 

Yengeni was the ANC’s chief whip in Parliament when he received the car in 1998.

He served four months years at Malmesbury Prison, near Cape Town, before being paroled in 2007.