Why ‘leader’ Jabulani Khumalo missed MK party’s manifesto rally

uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party founder Jabulani Khumalo has explained his absence from his party’s manifesto rally over the weekend, amid ongoing reports of his “purge” from the party.

Thousands of MK party supporters poured into the Orlando Stadium in Soweto over the weekend to hear party president Jacob Zuma detail what they would do if put into power. The party will contest next week’s national and provincial elections.

Khumalo was notably absent from the MK party rally, with the party claiming several weeks ago that he and others had been booted for “attempting to destabilise the party“. 

Speaking to 702 on Monday, Khumalo said he was absent because he had a ritual at home in Nkandla, KZN.

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“When the organisation was putting together the dates [for the rally] it clashed with what I was doing.

“In our culture once you have cooked your umqombothi and everything you can’t leave home. I was at home.

“I would be there if the date did not clash, but the dates clashed”.

‘Dudu’s lies’

Khumalo said allegations of him meeting with other political figures behind the party’s back were lies peddled by some in the party, including Zuma’s daughter Duduzile. 

“What I can say is that Zuma is our face. We needed him to be our face. I always said he took his wisdom when registering the party.

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“There are a few things we are fixing that have caused confusion among our [MK party] members. But I am the leader of the party, he is the face of the party.”

Watch Khumalo deny he was purged from the party:

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla previously labelled Khumalo an enemy.

Posting his picture after he wrote to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to remove Zuma from the ballot, Zuma-Sambudla wrote: “Jabulani Khumalo has just declared himself an enemy of the people.”

MK party fires its spokesperson?

The party last week denied claims that spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela had been fired amid another round of purges.

MK party provincial co-ordinator Simphiwe Mpungose labelled the allegations as “ill-informed”. He said they were “malicious and an attempt to sow panic and divisions among the membership and supporters of the uMkhonto weSizwe Party”.

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“We want to categorically confirm that Mr Nhlamulo Ndhlela remains the MK party’s national head of communications and spokesperson of our organisation.

“Any agenda will not succeed in derailing or undermining the will of the people to take back their land come 29 May 2024 by way of a two-thirds majority,” Mpungose said.

Additional reporting by Faizel Patel