By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party has removed its Chief Whip Mmabatho Mokoena-Zondi from the Impeachment Committee after she was charged for fraud and extortion earlier today in Cape Town.
Mokoena-Zondi is one of three MK party MPs appointed to serve on the committee regarding President Cyril Ramaphosa’s conduct in the Phala Phala saga, alongside deputy president and parliamentary leader, John Hlophe, and Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalala.
The party has replaced her with Siyabonga Gama, a former Transnet executive. The party has also added Andile Mgximtama as an alternative member to the team.
According to the Hawks, the charge stems from allegations that between August 2024 and December 2024, Mokoena-Zondi recruited four individuals into the party as researchers and subsequently demanded that they pay over large portions of their salaries under the guise of contributing towards party president Jacob Zuma’s legal fees.
Zuma continues to face prosecution in his long-running arms deal case in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Division of the High Court in Pietermaritzburg.
She was released on R30 000 bail and the case has been transferred to the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crimes Court where she is expected to appear on 18 June.
MK Party Secretary General Sibonelo Nomvalo says the party is actively enforcing consequence management against members accused of misconduct.
He pointed to Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla’s removal from Parliament and loss of salary as proof of action being taken. He insists that the party can’t be judged by the conduct of individual members and confirms that disciplinary processes against party members are continuing internally.
The arrest comes amid continuing turbulence within the MK party, which has repeatedly reshuffled senior positions in both Parliament and provincial legislatures.
The party’s former chief whip, MP Colleen Makhubele, resigned from Parliament on Monday, 28 February 2026, after a turbulent tenure marked by repeated changes in her standing within the party. Mokoena-Zondi was appointed to replace her.
It has since emerged that Mokoena-Zondi used a fake degree or qualifications to get a R50000 per month job at Ingwe municipality in Bulwer, outside Pietermaritzburg, where she was employed as a municipal manager about 13 years ago. She resigned when they started investigating her qualifications.
Earlier this month, Nhlamulo Ndhlela, the most public face of the party after Zuma, was suspended and replaced as spokesperson by Sifiso Mahlangu on 18 May.
Meanwhile a foundation linked to MK Party member Busisiwe Mkhwebane has asked American law enforcement agencies to investigate whether millions of US dollars stolen from Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm may have breached United States currency-smuggling and anti-money laundering laws.
The foundation argues that the matter involves “the presence of millions of undeclared United States dollars on a private farm owned by a sitting head of state”.
It urged US authorities to open a formal investigation into the origin, transportation, and concealment of the US dollars found at the farm and to consider possible violations of American criminal and financial laws.