By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party deputy president and and caucus leader John Hlophe flags disrespectful conduct by the party’s spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndlela and Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla.
Hlophe sent a letter to party president Jacob Zuma.
The letter addressed concerns about the behavior of Ndhlela and Zuma-Sambudla, describing their actions as “disruptive” and disrespectful to the authority of the party’s chief whip.
Hlophe said such behavior undermines the dignity and collaborative spirit required within the whippery team.
Ndhlela was also accused of obstruction of parliamentary communications, which has caused delays and negatively impacted the party’s public image.
He is also accused of undermining unity and collaboration, ‘in which his actions created divisions among parliamentary members and have been perceived as factional, counterproductive, and contrary to the party’s principles of unity and collective action’.
This comes after some of the party’s members of Parliament (MPs) have called for the immediate removal of newly appointed chief whip Collen Makhubele.
Makhubele replaced Jimmy Manyi who was appointed to parliament in August 2024, replacing Sihle Ngubane. His appointment as chief whip was seen as a move to stabilise the party’s parliamentary operations and ensure alignment with its leadership, including Zuma and Hlophe.
She is being accused by some MPs of making unilateral and undemocratic decisions, betraying party ideology – particularly in relation to her stance on Israel – and demonstrating poor leadership.
Makhubele is the former speaker of the City of Johannesburg, joined the MK Party in August 2024 after stints in the Congress of the People (COPE) and the short-lived South African Rainbow Alliance (SARA), which she founded.
This shows a contest as those who joined the party later get into positions than those who started the journey with the organisation.
The party has fired its KwaZulu-Natal chief whip, Mervyn Dirks, less than five months after he took up the role, saying the move is intended to strengthen the party.
In the 2024 elections, the MK party emerged as the largest party in KwaZulu-Natal, winning 37 out of 80 seats in the provincial legislature. They were followed by the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) with 15 seats, the African National Congress (ANC) with 14, the Democratic Alliance (DA) with 11, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) with two, and the National Freedom Party (NFP) with one.
Although the MK party had hoped to secure a clear majority with more than 50% of the vote, disputes over the election results delayed coalition talks. This opened the door for the IFP, ANC, DA and NFP to form a coalition government with a total of 41 seats, leaving the MK out of power.
The search is now on for next secretary-general, its seventh after removing Floyd Shivambu. According to the MK party’s constitution, Zuma, as party president, has the prerogative to hire and fire its leaders.
It remains to be seen how all this will play out, will South Africans will be mindful of all these shenanigans as they weigh up which party they should give their coveted votes to.