“Ngiyakuxosha!” (“I am dismissing you”).
This is the only word former President Jacob Zuma said when he expelled uMkhonto we Sizwe Party’s (MKP) Jabulani Khumalo last month.
In an affidavit before the Constitutional Court, Khumalo said that Zuma, who was only the face of the party’s election campaign and held no official position in the party, took a unilateral decision, without giving him a right of reply, to boot him out of the party.
“To quote him: ‘ngiyakuxosha!’ I understood him to mean he was expelling me and removing me as the party leader,” reads Khumalo’s affidavit, which he filed on Friday as part of the Electoral Commission’s application to the Constitutional Court to remove Zuma as the face of the MK Party.
Khumalo said that Zuma, on the spot, made “two distinct, unlawful and unprocedural decisions” to remove him as president and unilaterally terminate his party membership.
He stated that after firing him from the nascent party, the organisation issued a media statement confirming his axing from the organisation.
However, he said the office-bearers did not authorise or write the statement. He said that the statement implied that the “national leadership core” and other executive members had made the decision to expel him from the party.
“It is unclear to me where this structure derives its powers in terms of the MKP constitution.
“I suggest that this was done to give Zuma’s unlawful and unprocedural decisions legitimacy rather than identify with the public the nature of the decisions for what they are – Mr Zuma’s decisions.”
Zuma’s decisions, he said, shocked him. “This because of the sheer disregard for any process that must precede the removal of the president and leader of a political party. No charges were put on me, and no right of reply was afforded. This happens nowhere else.”
In addition to Khumalo, two other MKP founders, Nhlakanipho Raymond Khumalo and Bhekizenzo Jonathan Manzini, were expelled.
The other two expelled leaders are Lebo Moepeng and Rochelle Davidson.
The remaining four party founders were Ziqu Credo Madondo, Sibusiso Dumisani Nyathi, Mengameli Mthokozisi Dladla and Musawenkosi Mhlabuhlangene Gasa.
According to Khumalo, the purpose of his affidavit before the Constitutional Court was to record the position of the party in the litigation, which he said was not concerned with the merits and demerits of the arguments before the court.
“In short, neither Mr Zuma has or his representatives have, the authority to engage in this litigation on behalf of MKP.”
According to Khumalo, the MKP, whether rightly or wrongly, was already a party to the proceedings due to its citation. This allowed the party to file an affidavit in his capacity as “the president of the only legitimate MKP executive”.
He said Zuma neither informed nor consulted him about the proceedings. However, he had a legitimate fear that the MKP was endorsing Zuma’s stance, which was untrue.
Khumalo told the court that he was the president of the MKP and leader of its executive body or committee, saying that there was an existing lawful committee of which Zuma did not form part.
“In the circumstances, he has no authority to use MKP’s name in these proceedings. Rules and case law challenging the authority of an individual unlawfully acting on behalf of an organisation will be relied upon in due course needs be.”
In the same affidavit, Khumalo alleged that Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, forged his signature on a document sent to the IEC to create the impression that he had resigned and Zuma was officially MKP president.
“I reasonably suspect that she forged it or is aware of the person who forged it because I have been informed by the IEC that it was sent to them by her,” Khumalo told the judges.
He said the letter must be accepted to be forged because it was dated April 9, 2024, the same day he wrote a letter to the IEC authorising that Zuma’s face be put next to the MKP slot on the ballot paper and that he was the presidential candidate.
“In other words, the agreement was always that I would remain the party leader and he would be the face and presidential candidate. That letter was sent by me through my IEC recorded email address.”
Khumalo said that the signatures on these letters are clearly different, as is the MKP letterhead used. He asked: “If I had written this letter of resignation, why then would Mr Zuma subsequently remove me as the president of MKP as set out earlier?”
Khumalo invited Zuma-Sambudla to take the court into her confidence and deny his claims against her under oath, “which will then inform my next step”. He added he intended to pursue his grievances, in due course, at the correct forums, including the Electoral Court.
