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MK Party provincial offices in Polokwane, Limpopo locked up due to unpaid rent

By Bongani Mdakane
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Zuma ordered to pay back the money
Jacob Zuma's MK Party is in the grip of a crisis that is seeing its provincial structures facing the wrath of landlords over unpaid office space rentals. / Gallo Images
  • The landlord of the building rented by MK Party in the Polokwane CBD has kicked out the organisation

It is not raining but pouring in thunder for the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, which is the official opposition in the South African Parliament.

The MK Party, which is led by the former South African president Jacob Zuma, holds 58 seats in the National Assembly, making it the third-largest political party in the country, sitting directly behind the ANC and the DA.  The party is facing an internal crisis of shaky leadership, not sparring its structures from provinces from drama.

On Tuesday, Sunday World reported that the provincial offices of the party in Durban, Kwazulu-Natal, had been locked up by the landlord after it had failed to honour its rental agreement.

Rental woes spread

Today, we can reveal that it is not only in Durban where the party is facing a crunch caused by financial difficulties, as the landlord of the building rented by MK Party at 7 Albatross Centre on 19 Market Street in the Polokwane CBD, has kicked out the organisation from the property for failing to pay rent.

MK Party offices locked up in Limpopo due to rent arrears

MK Party utilised the building as its constituency office in the province, however, party insiders claimed that everyone who works for the organisation was kicked out more than three months ago after challenges of paying rental money for the space rented arose.

The building also has the National Development Agency as its tenant, among other entities renting a space.

One of the MK Party leaders who is in the National High Command (NHC) stated that cracks started to show when the officials were in Limpopo for the meeting, where they were told that they could not use the offices.

“The party held a high level meeting in Limpopo in January, where president Zuma was also present with other officials. When national leaders wanted to visit the offices, they were told by the provincial leadership that it was not going to be possible. Limpopo leaders did not want to tell NHC leadership that the offices were locked up by the landlord due to rent arrears. NHC was taken to another venue under the pretext that the offices of the party was far from the people as it was in the CBD,” said an insider.

MK Party which has one sit in the Limpopo Legistalor, where Lulama Jack is an MPL, is led by John Ngobeni as a chairperson in the province.

When asked to explain the reantal issue and the closure of the offices, Ngobeni declined to comment and referred Sunday World to the MK Party secretary-general, Siboniso Nomvalo.

Nomvalo’s phone was switched off when he was contacted, and the MK Party spokesperson, Sifiso Mahlangu did not respond to questions sent to him.

 

  • The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, South Africa's official opposition led by Jacob Zuma, is experiencing an internal leadership crisis and provincial tensions.
  • The MK Party holds 58 seats, making it the third-largest party after the ANC and DA.
  • The party's provincial office in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal was locked by the landlord due to unpaid rent.
  • Similarly, the MK Party was evicted from its Polokwane constituency office after failing to pay rent for over three months.
  • Financial difficulties are causing significant operational challenges for the MK Party across multiple provinces.
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It is not raining but pouring in thunder for the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, which is the official opposition in the South African Parliament.

The MK Party, which is led by the former South African president Jacob Zuma, holds 58 seats in the National Assembly, making it the third-largest political party in the country, sitting directly behind the ANC and the DA.  The party is facing an internal crisis of shaky leadership, not sparring its structures from provinces from drama.

On Tuesday, Sunday World reported that the provincial offices of the party in Durban, Kwazulu-Natal, had been locked up by the landlord after it had failed to honour its rental agreement.

Today, we can reveal that it is not only in Durban where the party is facing a crunch caused by financial difficulties, as the landlord of the building rented by MK Party at 7 Albatross Centre on 19 Market Street in the Polokwane CBD, has kicked out the organisation from the property for failing to pay rent.

MK Party utilised the building as its constituency office in the province, however, party insiders claimed that everyone who works for the organisation was kicked out more than three months ago after challenges of paying rental money for the space rented arose.

The building also has the National Development Agency as its tenant, among other entities renting a space.

One of the MK Party leaders who is in the National High Command (NHC) stated that cracks started to show when the officials were in Limpopo for the meeting, where they were told that they could not use the offices.

"The party held a high level meeting in Limpopo in January, where president Zuma was also present with other officials. When national leaders wanted to visit the offices, they were told by the provincial leadership that it was not going to be possible. Limpopo leaders did not want to tell NHC leadership that the offices were locked up by the landlord due to rent arrears. NHC was taken to another venue under the pretext that the offices of the party was far from the people as it was in the CBD," said an insider.

MK Party which has one sit in the Limpopo Legistalor, where Lulama Jack is an MPL, is led by John Ngobeni as a chairperson in the province.

When asked to explain the reantal issue and the closure of the offices, Ngobeni declined to comment and referred Sunday World to the MK Party secretary-general, Siboniso Nomvalo.

Nomvalo's phone was switched off when he was contacted, and the MK Party spokesperson, Sifiso Mahlangu did not respond to questions sent to him.