CAPE TOWN, Friday 25 September 2026 — The Western Cape High Court has ordered the MK Party to reinstate MPs Pumlani Kubukeli and Dr Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalala after setting aside their expulsions, finding that the termination of their party memberships was procedurally unfair.
The court restored the two politicians’ MK Party membership and their status as members of the National Assembly, reversing disciplinary action taken through what court reports describe as “Presidential Decrees” issued by party leader Jacob Zuma.
The MK Party intends to appeal the judgment.
The ruling is a significant intervention in the MK Party’s internal governance because membership of the party and membership of Parliament are directly connected for proportional-representation MPs.
Court restores status before expulsions
Kubukeli and Litchfield-Tshabalala were expelled in August after the party accused them of conduct it said undermined its reputation, unity and organisational discipline.
They challenged those decisions in the Western Cape High Court.
Judge Daniel Thulare set the expulsions aside on Friday.
The effect is to restore the position that existed before the disciplinary decisions were taken.
The order means Kubukeli and Litchfield-Tshabalala again become members of the MK Party and, as a consequence, members of the National Assembly.
Zuma instructed to reconsider cases properly
The judgment does not prevent the MK Party from dealing with disciplinary allegations against the two MPs.
Instead, the matter has been referred back to Zuma in his capacity as party president to reconsider through legally and procedurally proper processes.
The court ordered the party, Zuma and secretary-general Sibonelo Nomvalo to pay the costs of the application, including the costs of two counsel.
That distinction is important.
The ruling does not establish that the MPs can never be disciplined or expelled.
It finds that the decisions that produced their current expulsions cannot stand.
Parliamentary seats depend on party membership
South Africa’s proportional-representation system gives political parties substantial control over who occupies seats allocated through their party lists.
When an MP ceases to be a member of the party through which that person entered Parliament, the seat can become vacant and the party can nominate a replacement from its list.
That makes internal party disciplinary procedures constitutionally consequential.
An unlawful termination of membership can therefore affect not only a politician’s relationship with a party but the composition of Parliament itself.
Friday’s order recognises that consequence by restoring both party membership and National Assembly status.
MK Party has experienced repeated leadership disputes
The judgment comes against a backdrop of significant internal turnover within the MK Party since its emergence as a major national political force in 2024.
The party has changed senior officials repeatedly and has experienced a series of disputes involving MPs, party office-bearers and organisational structures.
Its disciplinary processes have consequently attracted increasing scrutiny.
The latest judgment places a judicial limit on how those powers may be exercised.
A party retains authority over its members, but disciplinary decisions affecting elected representatives remain subject to lawful procedure and judicial review.
Two court defeats on same day
The ruling landed on the same day as the Electoral Court dismissed the MK Party’s attempt to overturn the 2024 national and provincial election results.
The two cases are legally unrelated.
One concerns the integrity of the national election and the IEC’s results system.
The other concerns the MK Party’s internal disciplinary procedures and the parliamentary status of two of its members.
Politically, however, Friday delivered two significant adverse court decisions to the party within hours of each other.
Appeal could prolong parliamentary uncertainty
The MK Party has indicated that it intends appealing the High Court judgment.
That means the final position may still change.
Unless the operation of Friday’s order is suspended or overturned through further litigation, however, the present legal position is that Kubukeli and Litchfield-Tshabalala’s expulsions have been set aside and their previous status restored.
The case will therefore be watched both for its effect on the MK Party’s parliamentary caucus and for the wider precedent it may set for the party’s disciplinary structures.
With the MK Party simultaneously contesting hundreds of council seats in the November local elections, questions about internal discipline, candidate control and organisational procedure have consequences extending beyond Parliament.
