Defending himself against a sudden purge, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party official Sibonelo Maphumulo claims he and ousted eThekwini mayoral candidate Zandile Hlophe-Mkhwanazi are being turned into “scapegoats” amid an investigation into internal candidate-list tampering.
Maphumulo this week denied any role in submitting altered candidate lists to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), speaking out just days after party president Jacob Zuma dissolved the Presidential Task Team and ordered an investigation into alleged list manipulation before the November 4 elections.
Zuma’s move came after allegations that legitimate nominee lists were altered and replaced before submission to the IEC in August.
Despite the party’s internal investigation, IEC spokesperson in KwaZulu-Natal Thabani Ngwira confirmed that candidate lists submitted by the statutory deadline were final and could not be altered before the polls.
The party also announced that national chairperson Apostle Mxolisi Phakathi would replace Hlophe-Mkhwanazi as its eThekwini mayoral candidate. Hlophe-Mkhwanazi has also been removed from the National Party Liaison Committee, alongside fellow committee member Maphumulo.
The eThekwini mayoral candidate is a critical position, given that recent polling projects the MK Party to secure a decisive 55% majority in the metro.
“The party has initiated an investigation into alleged irregularities concerning the councillor candidate lists. The investigation will seek to establish the full facts and ensure that any persons found responsible for wrongdoing are held accountable,” the party’s statement read.
Speaking to The National this week, Maphumulo, who is also an MK Party ward councillor on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, said he and Hlophe-Mkhwanazi could not be held responsible for what happened, insisting that they had nothing to do with the submission of the wrong lists.
“As much as we are members of the National Party Liaison Committee, we were not responsible for submitting the wrong list. This is a well-planned political campaign to tarnish us, and we are being used as scapegoats here for someone’s blunder,” Maphumulo said.
The action taken by Zuma came after disgruntled party members picketed outside a Durban venue on Monday, calling for him to hear their concerns. While several municipalities are reportedly affected, eThekwini remains the focal point of the grievances.
Political analyst Professor Musa Xulu feared that the MK Party’s problems could potentially spark violence. He said that, should these contested candidates win their respective wards, the party would face severe friction trying to remove them after the election — a dynamic that risks triggering localised violence.
Under South African electoral law, an elected ward councillor can only be removed after the polls if they resign or are formally expelled from their political party. Vacating a ward seat automatically triggers a municipal by-election, forcing the party to contest the ward against opposition rivals once again.
Zakhele Ndlovu, a political analyst from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, observed that the candidate crisis reflected a broader pattern of organisational volatility in the party.
“South Africa’s biggest problem since 1994 is that citizens vote out of emotion and along identity lines. I suspect MK Party supporters will still vote for their party out of love and loyalty for uBaba (Zuma),” he said.
“However, this does not erase the fact that the MK Party faces a bleak future if it doesn’t fix its internal problems. What the candidate-list crisis clearly demonstrates is that the MK Party house is not in order and, quite frankly, it is a party that is poorly managed. This raises serious questions. If the MK Party cannot solve its internal problems, then how can it be expected to solve problems facing communities?”
Hlophe-Mkhwanazi could not be reached for comment. The MK Party’s national spokesperson, Sifiso Mahlangu, had not responded to a request for comment by the time of publication.
willem.phungula@nationalmg.co.za