A group claiming to be members of the MK Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) pledged their support to Jacob Zuma's MK Party. 

However, African National Congress (ANC) Veterans' League (ANCVL) president Snuki Zikalala said any former ANC war combatants joining the MK Party were doing so in their own capacity because the MKMVA no longer existed. 

Though the group had yet to join the MK Party officially, its members pledged support for the new party after Zuma ally and former finance minister Des van Rooyen, who acts as MKMVA's treasurer, gave them the green light. 

The former war combatants told News24 that, after being neglected by the ANC and its leaders, joining the MK Party was "a no-brainer".

But Zikalala told News24 the ANCVL was not worried, saying:

The MKMVA does not exist. If there are people who have joined the MK Party, they have done so in their capacity. We are also not concerned about any members who have joined the MK Party because it has no policies and no leadership.

Zikalala said the new party was doomed to fail because "Zuma had also failed as president of the country". 

The MKMVA members, who were part of the ANC's military wing, told News24 it had become clear the ANC and its leaders, particularly President Cyril Ramaphosa, were not interested in the former combatants.

The ANC moved to disband the MKMVA in 2018.

A parallel structure, which called itself the MKMVA Council, was then formed.

However, at a chaotic conference in East London in 2022, both structures were disbanded and a third organisation, the uMkhonto weSizwe Liberation War Veterans (MKLWV), was established.

This after a group, reportedly 15 out of about 400 delegates, staged a walkout.

According to reports, the conference deadlocked during a debate around the association's right to vote at ANC conferences.

Meanwhile, Van Rooyen leads an interim MKMVA structure.

Attempts to reach Van Rooyen, who is mandated to speak on behalf of the MKMVA, were unsuccessful.

MKMVA acting general-secretary Masechaba Motloung declined to comment but said the MKMVA had decided any member wishing to join the new MK Party was free to do so.

One MKMVA commander, Mafika Mthethwa, of the Gert Sibande region in Mkhondo, Mpumalanga, said the decision to join the MK Party came after months of deliberation and discussion.

"We realised that the current leadership of the ANC doesn't want us anymore; after thinking about this, we decided that contesting the election is not a bad idea.

"Also, the people who registered the MK Party are members of the MKMVA," Mthethwa added.

He said the ANC had ignored and neglected them and failed to consult them on issues.

"The ANC doesn't care about the MK soldiers, they ignore the MKMVA everywhere, and they don't recognise us.

"That is why we decided that, no, these people don't want us.

"The secretary-general [Fikile Mbalula] doesn't want us, and the secretary is the main person who doesn't want us.

"They have grudges because the MKMVA did not support some of them at the Nasrec conference," Mthethwa said.

Meanwhile, the MK Party added it welcomed MKMVA members who wished to join it.