
The recent expulsion of uMkhonto we Sizwe Party (MK Party) founder Jabulani Khumalo is part of a broader purge targeting the organisation’s members cited in a so-called “intelligence report”.
This is according to insiders, who say the report was shared with MKP leader Jacob Zuma.
However, University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) political expert Zakhele Ndlovu said it was difficult determine whether the contents of “an intelligence report” were factual.
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“What’s true though, is that intelligence reports, due to the fact that they are seldom made public, are in many instances conveniently used to deal with political rivals,” he said.
Khumalo, who registered the MK Party with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) in September, was over the weekend expelled alongside four other high profile party members.
While MK Party national spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndlela declined to disclose reasons for Khumalo’s expulsion, The Witness has reliably been informed that the sacking of the organisation’s founder and four others came after Zuma was presented with what senior party leaders described as an intelligence report showing that the MK Party has been infiltrated by the ANC.
The five, including Khumalo, had to be removed as a matter of urgency due to the strategic positions they occupied in the party. There are several people within the MK party who have been implicated.
“These people are in the regions and branches of the organisation,” a senior MK Party leader in KwaZulu-Natal said.
According to the source, individuals within the MK Party in regions and branches were part of a network established to “destroy the party from within”.
In March, The Witness reported that prominent MK Party member Phumulani Mfeka wrote a letter to the party’s leadership, where he threatened to withdraw his name from the organisation’s elections candidate list if the top brass failed to act against individuals he claimed have infiltrated the newly-formed party.
The concerns raised by Mfeka, who is responsible for the mobilisation of traditional leaders for the MK Party, were subsequently discussed by the MK Party leadership during a meeting held at Zuma’s Nkandla homestead.
Mfeka yon Tuesday told The Witness that he was satisfied with the manner in which the MK Party leadership was dealing with his concerns.
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“Even though I can’t say I was surprised with the recent decision [Khumalo’s expulsion], I’m nevertheless content with the fact that something was being done. The decision is just the beginning, given that the objective should be the dismantling of the entire cabal’s hold on our organisation,” he said.
Before his expulsion, Khumalo was number two on the MKP National Assembly elections candidate list.