Things have become complicated for the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature after the party fired one of its MPLs for allegedly associating himself with another political party but later reinstated him.
Emmanuel Nkosinathi Mthethwa was fired from the party early this month based on suspicions that he was still attached to the National People’s Ambassadors (NPA) political party, which he co-founded 11 years ago before joining the MKP, but an internal investigation has cleared him of the allegations.
Upon receiving the letter requesting Mthethwa’s return to the legislature, Speaker Nontembeko Boyce told the MKP that reinstating him required prior approval from the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).
Boyce removed Mthethwa by declaring his seat vacant on September 18, the day she received a letter from the party’s caucus informing her that he was no longer a party member.
She then declared the seat vacant and requested the caucus to furnish her with another person the next eligible candidate on the MK Party’s KwaZulu-Natal provincial list to be sworn in either on September 22 or 23 as Mthethwa’s replacement.
Attempts to reach Mthethwa for comment were unsuccessful.
Boyce’s spokesperson Nomusa Phungula said the MKP caucus submitted Mthethwa’s replacement, but on September 23 it wrote to Boyce saying that it had decided Mthethwa – who was already removed from the IEC list – should be reinstated.
Phungula said Boyce wrote to the caucus saying parties cannot remove their MPLs and reinstate them without following legislated protocol.
“You have to go through the whole party list system submitted to the IEC and gazetted, rearrange it, and then resubmit it to the IEC; only then will they be able to put Mthethwa on top of the list.
“The Speaker cannot accept Mthethwa back into the house as a member again until they go through that process, as it is not that easy.
“You don’t just remove a person, and then tomorrow you decide to reinstate him,” said Phungula.
Phungula was unsure of a deadline for the MKP to return its list to the IEC and submit Mthethwa’s name to Boyce for reinstatement.
“These things are done at certain periods, as there is a time before June for parties to rearrange their lists and resubmit.
“I want to check if things like this, how can they manoeuvre around that,” she said.
Mthethwa was fired from the MKP on September 14, but the party called for his reinstatement.
IEC spokesperson Thabani Ngwira concurred with Boyce.
“Once a person gets removed from the legislature, the next person on the list submitted to us is the one to be sworn in.
“If he (Mthethwa) is no longer on the list, therefore the Speaker is correct in saying they will need to reshuffle the list and submit it to us so that he can return to the top of the list,” he said.
Ngwira said he has not heard if the MKP has approached the IEC to re-submit its list.
When asked if MKP can reshuffle lists any time or if it will have to wait for a certain open window period to do it, Ngwira said, “Reshuffling party lists in the Legislature is administered by the Legislature Secretariat. MKP must approach the Legislature Secretariat.”
According to a letter from the party’s provincial coordinator, Simphiwe Mpungose, to the party’s legislature caucus leader, Inkosi Phathisizwe Chiliza, and the party’s chief whip, Bonginkosi Mngadi, the party’s secretary-general, Sibonelo Nomvalo, changed his mind about firing Mthethwa on September 21.
“As per the attached correspondence from the Secretary General, the party has officially withdrawn the expulsion of Hon. Emmanuel Nkosinathi Mthethwa.
“This decision follows an internal investigation by the Secretary General’s office, which cleared Hon. Mthethwa of all allegations previously leveled against him,” read Mpungose’s letter.
Mpungose asked Chiliza and Mngadi to immediately reinstate Mthethwa to the legislature.
“We respectfully request that your respective offices assist to interface with the relevant parliamentary and legislative structures to facilitate and expedite his formal reinstatement process,” said Mpungose.
According to the initial letter, which Mpungose wrote on September 15, Nomvalo had, on September 9, informed the party’s provincial structure that Mthethwa was expelled and therefore, in line with the country’s Constitution, should be removed from the legislature.
“We kindly request that your respective offices proceed to implement this decision for the organisation at the legislature level and facilitate the necessary administrative processes arising from this loss of membership,” read the initial letter, which did not state Mthethwa’s offences.
However, MKP legislature spokesperson Siphiwe Mbatha-Moyo said the directive to expel Mthethwa came from Nomvalo.
“Right now (on September 22) he has been reinstated,” said Mbatha-Moyo.
Mbatha-Moyo said Mthethwa was fired over allegations that he was working with the NPA, currently led by eThekwini Municipal deputy mayor Zandile Myeni.
Myeni remains with the National Freedom Party (NFP), despite the party having expelled her after she pledged to campaign for the NPA ahead of the November 4 local government elections.
After leaving the EFF, Mthethwa led the NPA after its formation in 2015 but abandoned it in 2024 to join the MKP.
“There were allegations that he was associated with the NPA.
“We don’t know how these allegations were resolved, but we got the letter that he has been reinstated,” said Mbatha-Moyo.
MKP national spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu has not responded to enquiries by time of publication.
bongani.hans@nationalmg.co.za
