By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The expelled MK Party members Nhlamulo Ndhlela and Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla plan to take legal action against their removal from the party.
Ndhlela and Zuma-Sambudla just wrapped a media briefing on their expulsion from the MK Party.
Last week, the MK Party secretary general Siboniso Nomvalo announced that the pair had been expelled for sowing divisions within the party.
Nomvalo highlighted that Zuma-Sambudla had made repeated public statements and social media posts that undermined the authority of party leadership and led to factionalism within the party. In Ndhlela’s case, Nomvalo referred to an unauthorized press briefing he held in May, which led to his immediate removal as the party spokesperson.
In a joint statement read by Ndhlela, the pair said they learnt through the media that they had been expelled.
He said that ignoring constitutional protections could eventually expose ordinary members to similar treatment.
“We will be instructing our lawyers to approach the high court and challenge our expulsions.”
“The people did not vote for internal conflict. The people voted for economic liberation, land justice, dignity, jobs, civil rights, and transformation. They did not vote for factional battles, they did not vote for internal purges, they voted for liberation, not liquidation.”
“This sets a dangerous precedent. Today, it’s the founding members, tomorrow it may be the branch leaders, the next day it may be the councillors, then the ordinary members. If Constitutional protections can be ignored for founders of the movement, what protection remains for the ordinary members? This is why this matter affects every single MK member,” he read.
The pair were also reprimanded for an incident preceding death of MP Mzikayise “Muzi” Ntshingila on 4 June after an illness. According to Nomvalo, the two had transferred the ailing MP to a medical facility without his family’s knowledge. Furthermore, they defied explicit party orders to stay away from his funeral and refrain from making public statements about his death or marital status, continuing instead to post about him on social media.
His partner Ayanda Maseko, was at the press briefing on Sunday and said that Ntshingila was transferred from LenMed hospital in Lenasia to Sandton Mediclinic with the family’s blessing.
Ntshingila served as the MK Party’s election manager during its debut in the 2024 elections, where it emerged as the third-largest political party in South Africa — a significant milestone for the organisation led by former president Jacob Zuma.
Zuma-Sambudla’s time within the party was marked by controversy. In 2025, she was charged with incitement to commit terrorism following her social media posts before and during the July 2021 riots, in which more than 300 people died. The KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban heard that her posts “played a role” in the riots, with the State alleging that she used posts on her X account to “incite, encourage and support” acts of violence. Zuma-Sambudla pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In the same year, she was implicated in recruiting more than a dozen men aged between 20 and 39 from KwaZulu-Natal who were sent to Russia for what they believed would be security training but were conscripted into a paramilitary group and sent to fight in Ukraine. Zuma-Sambudla and her associates were allegedly paid at least R14-million for recruiting the men. She resigned from her parliamentary position after criminal charges were laid against her.
Ndhlela’s removal also comes after he had announced an extensive 18-month study into internal organisational, ideological and strategic reviews.