By Zukile Majova
Political Editor
The Electoral Court has reserved judgment in the application by uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) founder Jabulani Khumalo to have Jacob Zuma removed as leader of the party.
The MK party has just won almost 15% of the national share of the vote and 45% of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature.
The new party has an opportunity to select 58 leaders to represent it in the National Assembly.
Its leaders should therefore be busy with putting together a coalition government for the province of KZN, but were tied up in court on Monday.
Khumalo, who registered the party with the IEC last year, later authorised Zuma to be its leader.
Once Zuma was declared as the leader of the party, he expelled Khumalo and four others from the party accusing them of organising against the party.
Mntungwa, as Khumalo is affectionately known, told the court that he wanted Zuma to be the campaign face of his party and not replace him as its leader.
He accused the IEC of going beyond the guidelines of the Electoral Commission Act when it recognised Zuma as the leader of the MK party.
Khumalo also said a letter that was sent to the IEC by Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, confirming Khumalo’s resignation as president of the MK party was forged.
The MK founder claimed Zuma unilaterally took the decision to expel him without notice, without a resolution from the interim national executive committee and without a disciplinary process.
A group of MK party members who were present when Zuma expelled him could not be said to be a properly constituted interim executive of the party and therefore had no powers to take a decision to expel him.
Zuma’s lawyer Advocate Dali Mpofu has accused Khumalo of perjury for claiming Zuma-Sambudla fabricated the letter and forged his signature.
“I can assure you that Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla has given instructions to her lawyers to mount a serious case of defamation against Jabulani Khumalo,” Mpofu told the court.
Pictured above: Jacob Zuma.
Source: X
