The MKP has formally admitted that its Mpumalanga structures are on the brink of paralysis after months of brutal infighting, factional battles and leadership wars that have threatened to tear apart one of the party’s strongest provinces ahead of the November 4 local government elections.
In a sharply worded internal letter dated May 7, newly appointed secretary-general Sibonelo Nomvalo announced the deployment of a high-powered national intervention team to Mpumalanga, led by the party’s second deputy president Tony Yengeni.
“The intervention to the province is necessitated by continued and relentless infighting that has almost led to a paralysis of provincial political and organisational activity in the province,” Nomvalo wrote.
Duduzane Zuma in high-powered team
The intervention team will include senior party leaders, among them Duduzane Zuma and Zandile Hlophe-Mkhwanazi.
The team is expected to visit Mpumalanga between May 11 and May 14 before submitting recommendations to the national leadership.
Nomvalo said the intervention seeks to “eliminate the current deeply entrenched factional culture” and restore unity in a province he described as a “critical political base” for MKP.
Choppy waters in Mpumalanga
The intervention comes at a dangerous political moment for the party, with South Africans expected to head to the polls for local government elections on November 4.
Former MKP Mpumalanga leader Mary Phadi, once among the province’s most influential grassroots mobilisers, has since resurfaced as ActionSA’s mayoral candidate for the Nkangala District Municipality in Mpumalanga, raising fears inside MKP that disgruntled branches could drift towards her new political home ahead of the elections.
For nearly two years, Sunday World has documented escalating turmoil inside MKP Mpumalanga, including court battles over Phadi’s expulsion, public revolts against former secretary-general Floyd Shivambu, explosive sexual harassment allegations against deputy president John Hlophe, and fierce internal battles involving former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
The province repeatedly descended into leadership paralysis, with competing factions accusing one another of sabotage, purges and unlawful restructuring. The crisis eventually forced repeated interventions by party president Jacob Zuma himself as branches threatened rebellion and some leaders openly demanded Shivambu’s removal.
Phadi was subsequently expelled from the party and replaced by Mkhwebane, who is currently the MKP provincial chairperson. However, a cohort of comrades serving under her did their best to sabotage her leadership, prompting the new secretary-general to take swift action.
Total collapse fears
Against that background, Nomvalo’s letter amounts to the clearest public acknowledgement yet that the party fears organisational collapse in one of its most electorally strategic provinces.
“The national intervention team, to be led by the 2nd Deputy President Cde Tony Yengeni, is expected to visit the province from Monday 11th of May 2026 to Thursday, the 14th of May 2026,” the letter reads.
Nomvalo added that the delegation was expected to produce “a full report, including concise and substantive recommendations, by close of business on Friday, 15th May 2026”.
‘Deeply entrenched factional culture’
He further stated that the intervention team would engage “all relevant parties and individual comrades to the current organisational impasse, including meeting with former provincial and regional leaders as may be deemed necessary”.
In one of the strongest acknowledgements yet of the scale of the crisis, Nomvalo warned that the province had become trapped in a “deeply entrenched factional culture”.
“The Mpumalanga province is a critical political base for uMkhonto weSizwe Party and therefore the outcome of this national intervention is expected to eliminate the current deeply entrenched factional culture, and ensure unity and cohesion of the party in the province,” he wrote.
- The MKP's Mpumalanga structures are on the verge of paralysis due to prolonged infighting and factionalism ahead of the November 4 local elections.
- MKP appointed a national intervention team led by deputy president Tony Yengeni, including senior leaders Duduzane Zuma and Zandile Hlophe-Mkhwanazi, to restore party unity.
- The team will visit Mpumalanga from May 11-14, 2026, to engage all parties involved and submit a report with recommendations by May 15.
- Internal conflicts have included court battles, leadership sabotage, accusations of purges, and sexual harassment allegations, severely disrupting provincial operations.
- MKP views Mpumalanga as a critical political base and aims through intervention to eliminate entrenched factionalism and prevent organizational collapse before the elections.
