Barely two months after being sworn in as members of the national assembly representing the MK Party, eight MPs have been fired and their party membership terminated.
This extraordinary event has sent ripples through the political landscape and raised many questions about the stability within the MK Party.
MK Party Chief Whip Sihle Ngubane wrote to Speaker Thoko Didiza, informing her of the changes in the party’s caucus. According to the constitution, a person loses membership of the assembly if they cease to be a member of the party that nominated them.
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Didiza, adhering to this procedure, informed the affected MPs that the “loss of membership is therefore by operation of the law and parliament has to give effect to the official communication from the party.”
The office of the MK Party’s Secretary-General has swiftly moved to address the vacancies created by the dismissal of the eight MPs. Didiza has been provided with a list of eight candidates to fill the vacancies in the assembly.
Ngubane wrote, “We hereby request the supplementation of the MK Party depleted national list of candidates in terms of the electoral act for the purposes of filling vacancies in the assembly.”
This latest development occurs just days after the MK Party announced the second axing of its on-and-off Secretary-General, Arthur Zwane, citing “mismanagement and internal conflicts.” Though the precise reasons behind the MPs’ membership termination remain unclear, the events underscore significant internal strife within the party.
