We are not pro-Zuma and Manyi is not our leader– ATM president
25 April 2019
Newcomer to the election scene, the African Transformation Movement, has rubbished claims that it is linked to former president Jacob Zuma.
ATM president Vuyolwethu Zungula told News24 during a sit-down interview this week that, while he found labels such as "pro-Zuma" and "Zuma Party" amusing, he felt it could be detrimental to both him and his party.
"If you look at our gatherings from the first till now, there’s never been one mention of 'viva Zuma, viva!' Not even saying 'hands off Zuma', our manifestos, our documents, there is nothing about his rhetoric or politics that you will find. We have no association with the former president," said Zungula.
The only engagement with Zuma was before the formation of the party, he said, adding that it had been a meeting with independent African churches, something he said other former presidents - including Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe - had done.