Why Ximoko Party severed all its ties with the ANC

THE Ximoko Party decided to break away from the ANC and to contest this year’s general elections on May 7 as an independent party.

Ximoko spokesperson, Dimpho Hlongwane said the party’s ties with the ANC were formed in 1993 when they were incorporated into the ruling party.

She explained that Ximoko members felt the ANC left them on the sidelines through the years and that was why they decided to split from the ANC.

“After we merged with the ANC in 1993, they gave us seats in parliament, but later replaced our members with their own. That is why we decided to go at it alone. We are contesting the elections in Limpopo alone. We have not launched any party branches yet, but we have many followers. We plan to convince the angry people of Malamulele to vote for us,” she said.

According to Ximoko’s president, Madala Mabunda, the party was established in 1984 as a cultural organisation by the then prime minister of Gazankulu, Hudson Ntsanwisi.

He said the organisation was transformed into a political party, the Ximoko Progressive Party, in 1990 with Ntsanwisi as its first president.

“After the death of Ntsanwisi in 1993, chief Samuel Nxumalo took over as president. The party formed an alliance with the ANC with 4% of Ximoko’s members. The other 96% went on to form the Ximoko Democratic Party.

“In 1998 the two Ximoko parties formed a hybrid party and we called it the Ximoko Party. It is therefore not a new political party, but rather a restructured and revived party with new vision, hope and direction under new leadership,” he said.

Mabunda said the ANC had turned job creation into a propaganda tool for their election campaign, while serious issues remained unresolved.

Spokesperson for the ANC in Limpopo, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said a number of MPs and MPLs who joined the ANC through Ximoko remain representatives of the ANC today.

Ntshavheni said the agreement was that Ximoko, like the National Party (NP), ceased to exist and its members become fully fledged in the ANC and will be elected like all other ANC members to represent or lead the ANC in any capacity.