Former South African president Jacob Zuma's daughter and MK party member Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla has weighed in on the drama. Picture: Michel Bega
Expelled leader of the uMkhonto weSizwe party (MK) Jabulani Khumalo has accused former President Jacob Zuma’s daughter of writing a fraudulent letter to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) changing the party’s leadership.
Zuma was back in the electoral court on Monday where Khumalo wants his expulsion from the MK party declared invalid and unlawful. He also wants to be reinstated as the organisation’s leader with immediate effect.
The former president ousted Khumalo and other MK party leaders weeks before the national and provincial elections.
Khumalo’s lawyer Advocate Mfesane Ka-Siboto argued there is enough evidence to conclude that the daughter of the former president Jacob Zuma, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, forged the letter.
Ka-Siboto argued that Zuma-Sambudla deliberately did not copy Khumalo in the email correspondence to the commission.
“The IEC should have done more to verify that an email sent by Ms Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla is the intention of Mr Khumalo, particularly because Mr Khumalo himself has said ‘I do not want to change the party leader.’
“There is reasonable suspicion on the papers that Ms Zuma-Sambudla forged the letter,” Ka-Siboto said.
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Ka-Siboto argued that Zuma-Sambudla had no authority to remove Khumalo as party leader.
According to Regulation 9 which deals with the registration of political parties, a change in the particulars of a registered political party must be notified to the Chief Electoral Officer in writing within 30 days after such change by the registered contact person or the leader of the party.
Ka-Siboto then presented evidence before the court to show that the letter had distinguishable differences in the signatures of Khumalo.
“This suggestion was put to the third and fourth respondents. The answer is, ‘Well we do not know why they look different.’ With respect, that can’t be a sustainable argument.”
Zuma’s lawyer Advocate Dali Mpofu argued Khumalo wrote two letters to the IEC which confirmed receiving those.
“The forgery theory is based on the one letter theory and our version is based on the fact that he wrote two letters.”
Mpofu is seeking for the Electoral Court to dismiss Khumalo’s application, arguing it is flawed and this “this is not a playground.”
Judgement has been reserved in the matter.
Khumalo was expelled from the MK party in April with current leader Jacob Zuma referring to Khumalo as an interim leader.
In papers before the court, Khumalo argued that the IEC acted outside the scope of the Electoral Commission Act when it recorded Zuma as the president of the new political organisation.
Earlier this month, MK party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said all forms of communication had broken down with Khumalo and that his relationship with Zuma was irreversible.
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