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By Celani Sikhakhane
- Jacob Zuma removed Zandile Hlophe-Mkhwanazi as the uMkhonto weSizwe Party’s eThekwini mayoral candidate after members protested over its councillor list.
- The uMkhonto weSizwe Party has replaced Hlophe-Mkhwanazi with church leader Apostle Mxolisi Phakathi and ordered an investigation into members’ complaints.
Former president Jacob Zuma has dumped the uMkhonto weSizwe Party’s eThekwini mayoral candidate just weeks after she was unveiled for the top job.
Zandile Hlophe-Mkhwanazi is out and church leader Apostle Mxolisi Phakathi is in.
The dramatic change comes after angry party members protested over the uMkhonto weSizwe Party’s candidate list for eThekwini.
Hlophe-Mkhwanazi, who was announced last month as the party’s surprise choice for mayor, has faced claims from party members that she was involved in tampering with the candidate list.
The party has not found her guilty of wrongdoing.
The complaints sparked chaotic protests this week, with members demanding that the list be reviewed.
They claimed people chosen by branches to stand as councillors were missing from the final list.
The protesters accused Hlophe-Mkhwanazi and other party leaders in the eThekwini region of putting people who had been rejected during branch nomination meetings onto the final list.
The anger boiled over at eBandla Hotel in Ballito on Tuesday afternoon, where party Secretary General Sibonelo Nomvalo was holding a meeting.
Then Zuma stepped in.
On Wednesday afternoon, party spokesperson Sfiso Mahlangu announced that Zuma had ordered an investigation into the complaints.
Hlophe-Mkhwanazi was also removed as the party’s candidate for mayor of eThekwini.
She has been replaced by Apostle Mxolisi Phakathi.
Zuma also removed Hlophe-Mkhwanazi and Sibonelo Maphumulo from the party’s National Party Liaison Committee with immediate effect.
“Pending the outcomes of the necessary processes, the president has decided to remove Zandile Hlophe-Mkhwanazi and Sibonelo Maphumulo from the National Party Liaison Committee with immediate effect,” Mahlangu said.
“The President also hereby announces that Apostle Mxolisi Phakathi is the new candidate for the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality.”
Mahlangu said the party would investigate the claims surrounding its candidate list.
He said anyone found responsible for wrongdoing would face the party’s internal processes.
Hlophe-Mkhwanazi’s removal comes after her original appointment as mayoral candidate raised eyebrows among some party members.
Some members claimed they did not know who she was when the party announced her as its choice to lead eThekwini.
Now, just weeks later, she has lost the mayoral candidacy.
It is not the first time the uMkhonto weSizwe Party has faced a fight over its candidate lists.
In 2024, the party removed former teacher Ntombenhle Mkhize from Parliament after about two months.
Her removal followed claims that she was among members who had entered Parliament through a manipulated candidate list.
Mkhize had left her teaching job in uMlazi to take up her seat in Parliament.
She was left without the parliamentary position after Zuma removed her.
The latest fight now puts the spotlight back on the party’s internal candidate selection process as it prepares for the battle to control eThekwini.
Pictured above: Former uMkhonto weSizwe Party eThekwini mayoral candidate Zandile Hlophe-Mkhwanazi has been replaced with church leader Apostle Xolani Phakathi.
Image source: uMkhonto weSizwe Party
