Expelled uMkhonto weSizwe MPs defied party by attending swearing-in ceremony, court hears
The MK Party told the court that more than 90% of the 800 people who appeared on the party’s list submitted to the Electoral Commission ahead of the May polls were not known to the party’s president, Jacob Zuma.
Thamsanqa Khuzwayo (centre), the spokesperson for a group of axed MK Party members, explained at a briefing in Cape Town on 22 August 2024 why they approached the court to challenge their loss of membership. Picture: Lindsay Dentlinger/EWN
CAPE TOWN - The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party says ten former Members of Parliament (MPs) who’ve approached the Western Cape High Court to get their jobs back defied the party by appearing in Parliament to be sworn in as its representatives.
It told the court more than 90% of the 800 people who appeared on the party’s list submitted to the Electoral Commission ahead of the May polls were not known to the party’s president, Jacob Zuma.
The party said the urgent application should be dismissed because the complainants knew they had been expelled two months ago already.
Simba Chitando, lawyer for the applicants said his clients stand to lose their rights and their benefits as Parliamentarians if the court does not stop the National Assembly speaker from swearing in any more replacements for the MK Party.
Being booted out of the Parliamentary Village would also render them and their dependents homeless.
But in response, MK Party lawyer Nikiwe Nyathi said the applicants had created urgency in this matter, and the rights they claim they have don’t exist.
Last week, eight of the party’s vacant seats were filled, with two of the larger group of 18 expelled members making a return.
After initially boycotting the swearing-in of new MPs after the May polls, a separate ceremony was held for MK Party members, but not all 58 seats were immediately filled.
The court heard that an audit of the party’s list revealed that a number of individuals were either not bona fide members of MK or were included on suspicious grounds.
The party said at least two of the applicants defied a party order not to attend the first sitting of parliament, another two failed to pitch for the swearing-in ceremony, and five others defied the instruction not to attend that ceremony.
Judgment in the matter was reserved.