MK Provincial Leader Wants Former EFF Members Barred From Getting Top Positions

SIHLE MAVUSO|December 4, 2024

***REINSTATED: Mary Phadi, who had just been reinstated as the convener of MK party by the Mpumalanga High Court, made the remarks shortly after her court victory. Photo: X***

Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK) Party’s Mpumalanga leader wants the party to stop giving top positions to former EFF members who have just joined the party, led by former president Jacob Zuma.

Mary Phadi, the MK Party’s convener in the province and a member of the provincial legislature in Mbombela, said this shortly after her court victory yesterday.

That was after Phadi won a legal victory at the Mpumalanga High Court which reinstated her as the convener of the party in the province and the MK’s leader in the legislature. This came after the ANC splinter party unceremoniously axed her from all positions without a hearing.

The MK Party later announced former Public Protector and EFF MP Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane as its new Mpumalanga convenor.

Phadi feels that the parachuting of former EFF leaders was setting the party back.

“I am honest to the organisation to say you cannot see a person joining Mkhonto Wesizwe two weeks before and the next thing you give the person a whole will. How can we defeat EFF in the elections and from there you make the same person to be the face of the organisation. You know, you could take anybody in the province and put that person there, Phadi told SABC on Tuesday evening.

“So, I am saying that I am not demanding to be the convener of the province but currently I am sitting with the order and I will be talking to the president, on the letter of apology I will be saying please president, let’s find a solution to this thing because we cannot lose as the province in 2026.”

***POINTED: Social Media users have pointed former public protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, as the likely target of Mary Phadi’s outburst. Photo: MK Party***

Phadi did not name any leader, but her outburst has been seen as being directed at Mkhwebane, the MK’s new leader in Mpumalanga and Phadi’s main rival in the province.

The former public protector left the EFF for the MK Party two months ago after serving as its MP for more than a year.

Other top former EFF members who joined the MK include former EFF Deputy President Floyd Shivambu and former National Chairperson Advocate Dali Mpofu.

Shivambu was appointed the MK’s National Organiser before being promoted to the position of Secretary General weeks later. Mpofu has been appointed as a member of the MK High Command, the party’s top leadership structure.

Meanwhile, the MK Party’s spokesperson, Nhlamulo Ndhlela, said they will appeal the court ruling that reinstated Phadi as they deemed it a miscarriage of justice.

“UMkhonto weSizwe Party was never served with legal papers and thus filed no opposing affidavit nor made representations, therefore it is the MK Party’s view that what transpired is a gross miscarriage of justice,” Ndlela said.

“After retrieving the legal papers and consulting with our legal team, we have come to the decision that we will be appealing the decision of the Mpumalanga High Court appeal. We believe and anticipate that once our case is presented against the applicant, the judges will find that the interim order in favour of Mary Phadi was based on a misrepresentation of facts,” he added.