A top official in one of South Africa\u2019s biggest political parties has been sacked after he visited a controversial Malawian pastor in April.<\/p>\n
Floyd Shivambu has been removed as secretary-general of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party barely six months into the job after he attended an Easter service at self-proclaimed pastor Shepherd Bushiri\u2019s church.<\/p>\n
Mr Bushiri, from Malawi, was one of southern Africa\u2019s best known preachers when he was arrested and charged with fraud in South Africa in 2020.<\/p>\n
After being released on bail, he managed to flee to his home country in unclear circumstances. South Africa has been trying to extradite him ever since.<\/p>\n
Mr Bushiri denies any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
The MK party, which was founded by former President Jacob Zuma, said in a press conference on Wednesday that Mr Shivambu\u2019s removal came after his actions \u201cwere found to be against the spirit and prescripts of the MK party\u2019s constitution\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe president and national officials were left with no other option but to act swiftly,\u201d said MK national chair Nathi Nhleko.<\/p>\n
He added that the trip \u201cwas not an officially sanctioned programme of the organisation\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, Mr Shivambu remains a member of the party and will instead represent MK in the National Assembly.<\/p>\n
Reacting to news of his demotion, Mr Shivambu said he \u201cfully accepts\u201d the decision taken by the party and looked forward to taking up his new role in parliament.<\/p>\n
Mr Shivambu joined the MK party in August last year from the rival Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and was later appointed secretary-general \u2013 one of the party\u2019s top positions.<\/p>\n
Under the leadership of former President Zuma, the newly formed MK party came third in last year\u2019s elections \u2013 a major factor in the governing ANC losing its majority for the first time since democratic elections were introduced in 1994.<\/p>\n
Mr Shivambu was widely criticised in April when he reposted footage shared on X by Mr Bushiri showing the self-proclaimed pastor asking hundreds of worshippers at his Jesus Nation church to welcome the South African politician.<\/p>\n
The politician, in his retweet, also praised Mr Bushiri for his \u201cgood work\u201d and \u201cfor hosting us\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Bushiri is a millionaire who set up churches in several African countries.<\/p>\n
He is accused of preying on poor people who were desperate to improve their lives by selling merchandise including \u201cmiracle oil\u201d.<\/p>\n
The self-proclaimed prophet claims to have cured people of HIV, made the blind see, changed the fortunes of the impoverished and, on at least one occasion, walked on air.<\/p>\n
Mr Bushiri has also been charged with rape. He and his wife have denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A top official in one of South Africa\u2019s biggest political parties has been sacked after he visited a controversial Malawian pastor in April. Floyd Shivambu has been removed as secretary-general of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party barely six months into the job after he attended an Easter service at self-proclaimed pastor Shepherd Bushiri\u2019s church. Mr […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116008\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}