The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), has asked to reinstate Nkosinathi Mthethwa after notifying the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature of his removal, but the Speaker says the seat remains vacant.
The party terminated the membership of Member of the Provincial Legislature (MPL), Mthethwa, on September 17. However, it subsequently reversed its position and, on September 22, forwarded his name to the Speaker’s office for swearing-in again as an MPL.
The Speaker, Nontembeko Boyce, declined the request, saying the processes to remove Mthethwa and declare the party’s seat vacant had been completed.
The Speaker’s spokesperson, Nomusa Phungula, told The National on Wednesday that the Speaker had rejected the MKP’s request to automatically reinstate Mthethwa because this would be contrary to the Legislature’s rules.
Phungula said that once the Speaker declared the seat vacant, the office contacted the candidate next in line on the original list submitted by the party during the general election.
In a case where a party wants to reinstate a removed member, it would have to return to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) and amend its candidate list, according to the Speaker’s office.
"On Thursday, 17 September 2026, the Office of the Speaker received correspondence from the MKP component advising of the removal of Honourable Mr ENM Mthethwa as a Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature. The removal was communicated with the member and a vacancy was declared.
“Subsequently, on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, the Office of the Speaker received further correspondence from the MKP advising that Honourable Mr ENM Mthethwa has been reinstated as a Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature.”
Phungula added that the Speaker had written to the party seeking confirmation of Mthethwa’s membership status. However, she said that, at this stage, the seat remained vacant.
Last week, the MKP said Mthethwa had been dismissed from the party after it discovered that he was still attached to his former party, the National People’s Ambassadors (NPA), which he founded in 2016.
On Monday, the party’s caucus leader in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, Inkosi Phathisizwe Chiliza, confirmed Mthethwa’s expulsion, saying the party had found that he was in communication with councillors from another party.
“It is true that he has been removed from both as a member and as a representative of the party in the Legislature because of his association with another party. This is not acceptable in the MKP,” Chiliza said.
The party’s provincial leader, Willies Mchunu, also confirmed the expulsion. He said that although the decision had been taken by the party’s national leadership, his office had also been notified.
However, when contacted on Wednesday, 23 September, Mchunu confirmed that the situation had changed. He said the province had received a letter from party secretary-general Sibonelo Nomvalo on Tuesday informing him that an investigation into the matter had cleared Mthethwa of any wrongdoing and that he should be reinstated.
“It is the national leadership that deploys and removes members so there is nothing much we do as the province,” Mchunu said.
Mthethwa, from Ladysmith, was previously a member of the Economic Freedom Fighters before leaving and founding the NPA in 2016.
In 2021, the NPA contested the local government elections and won a seat in Alfred Duma Local Municipality and another in Okhahlamba Local Municipality in Bergville, in the north-west of KwaZulu-Natal.
After the MKP was established in 2023, Mthethwa joined the party and became its MPL in the province. He was replaced by his wife as a councillor in Alfred Duma Municipality in Ladysmith.
The NPA was facing deregistration by the IEC after it did not participate in the 2024 general election and failed to register for the upcoming local elections.
It is understood that disgruntled National Freedom Party members had offered to continue with the party. Under the new leadership of NFP eThekwini deputy mayor Zandile Myeni, the party has recently been relaunched with new branding and is expected to contest municipalities including uThukela, uMkhanyakude, Zululand and eThekwini.
The NPA leader in the uThukela district, Manqoba Dlamini, denied that Mthethwa was still attached to the party. He said Mthethwa’s wife remained a councillor until 4 November.
Mthethwa did not respond to questions sent to him and did not take calls about his dismissal and reinstatement.
willem.phungula@nationalmg.co.za