JOHANNESBURG, Thursday 27 August 2026 — The MK Party has expelled MPs Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalala and Pumlani Kubukeli with immediate effect and asked National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza to begin the process of removing them from Parliament, extending a series of senior personnel changes inside the party ahead of November’s local government elections.
The party confirmed the expulsions on Thursday afternoon, saying the two members had engaged in conduct detrimental to its reputation, integrity and interests and had undermined organisational unity and discipline.
The MK Party did not provide detailed allegations against either MP in the initial announcement.
The claims therefore remain the party’s stated grounds for its decision rather than independently established findings concerning particular conduct.
The party said it was communicating the expulsions to Didiza so that the necessary parliamentary processes could follow.
The latest removals follow substantial changes to the MK Party’s national leadership earlier in August.
Former judge John Hlophe was removed as first deputy president, although he remains the party’s parliamentary leader in the National Assembly.
Former police minister Nathi Nhleko was also removed as national chairperson and replaced by Apostle Mxolisi Phakathi.
MK Party president Jacob Zuma subsequently appointed his son Duduzane Zuma as first deputy president and former ANC politician Tony Yengeni as second deputy president.
The sequence of changes represents a substantial reorganisation of the party’s senior leadership during the final months before its first local government election.
The uMkhonto weSizwe Party emerged as the third-largest party nationally in the 2024 election and became the largest party in KwaZulu-Natal.
November will provide its first opportunity to translate that support into representation across South Africa’s municipalities.
The party is consequently attempting to build candidate structures across KwaZulu-Natal and other provinces while simultaneously managing changes among senior national figures.
That process is particularly important in KwaZulu-Natal, where MK will compete for control or influence in municipalities currently governed by the ANC, IFP and coalition arrangements.
The latest expulsions concern national MPs rather than municipal candidates and do not directly change an individual mayoral contest.
Their electoral relevance instead lies in the continuing organisational restructuring of one of the largest parties contesting November’s elections at a point when candidate registration is about to close.
Political parties have until 17:00 on Friday, 28 August to submit their municipal candidates to the IEC.
The MK Party has not indicated in its initial statement whether the dispute involving Litchfield-Tshabalala and Kubukeli has any connection to municipal candidate selection.
The next institutional step will be Parliament’s consideration of the party’s communication concerning their seats.
For the MK Party, the broader test will be whether the continuing leadership and personnel changes affect its ability to convert its substantial 2024 support into an organised municipal campaign when voters go to the polls on 4 November.
