Advocate Dali Mpofu is the latest high-ranking official to become a member of the country's official opposition, the uMkhonto Wesizwe party, which he says he helped conceptualise, name and build the structures for - all while he was a member of the red berets.

Advocate Dali Mpofu, the former EFF chairperson and long-time Jacob Zuma legal representative, was actively involved in the formation of the uMkhonto Wesizwe party which he and Zuma secretly started discussing as far back as early 2022.

At the time of discussing the formation of MK, Zuma was an active member of the ANC while Mpofu was an active EFF member.

"There was a time when former president Zuma and I were the only people who knew about this project of the formation of MK," Mpofu said on Thursday morning during an exclusive interview with the SABC's Mzwandile Mbeje in which he revealed that he had left the red berets after a lot of soul searching.

The MK party was officially announced on 16 December 2023 without any leadership structures or clear policies. It contested its first general election on 29 May and won 15% of the national vote, making it the country's third-largest political party.

MK national spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela described Mpofu's defection to the MK as a natural transition because he had been with the party behind the scenes, and was constantly advising Zuma on how...