Leader of the Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party and former South African president Jacob Zuma waves to supporters during the party's first anniversary celebrations at the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban on December 15, 2024. (Photo by RAJESH JANTILAL / AFP)
uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party leader Jacob Zuma has given the ANC until 31 January to reinstate him as a member of the governing party or face legal action.
Zuma was expelled from the ANC last year for his role in the formation of the MK party, one of the greatest contributors to the ANC’s loss of its parliamentary majority nationally and in KwaZulu-Natal on 29 May.
This week, his lawyers wrote to ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula rejecting the “unlawful purported expulsion” of Zuma, who had been a member of the party for the “past 65 years or so” and demanding his reinstatement.
In the letter of demand, they said that the expulsion was “illegal and/or in breach of both the ANC constitution and/or the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa for various grounds” including the party’s refusal to allow him a physical, rather than a virtual, hearing.
The failure to hold the process in public, the refusal to hold a pre-hearing and the further refusal to postpone a meeting of the national disciplinary committee and reconvene it at a “mutually convenient” date added to the illegality of the decision, they said.
They alleged that Mbalula had “unduly interfered” with a decision of the disciplinary committee to hold a physical hearing and that Zuma had not been allowed to lead evidence in mitigation.
Zuma’s lawyers also accused Mablula of “victimisation” of former national executive committee member Tony Yengeni, who represented him in the disciplinary hearing.
They said the ANC had refused or failed to “deal with and repudiate the unlawful and repeated conduct of the ANC secretary general in intimidating, victimising and hurling gratuitous insults on Tony Yengeni, whose only sin is representing president Zuma”.
“The victimisation of Mr Yengeni continues to date with the obvious aim of depriving president Zuma of his rights contained in the ANC constitution and his political rights enshrined in the Constitution of South Africa,” they said.
There had also been a failure to deal in any way with the issues raised in a series of notices of review or appeal sent to the ANC and the national disciplinary committee of appeal, and a refusal to entertain grounds of appeal based on “procedural transgressions of the ANC constitution”.
They said the ANC had failed to comply with its own rules in respect of appeal committee proceedings, including timelines which they specified, and had refused to provide Zuma with a complete record of the proceedings for the purpose of appealing.
Zuma had been subjected to “inconsistent treatment” by the ANC “compared to
others who had acted no differently from him”, including those who were associated with the Congress of the People in the past and with the South African Communist Party. The latter has decided to contest the 2026 local government elections independently of the ANC.
Zuma’s lawyers said they had not been given reasons for the dismissal of his appeal, which “continues to frustrate our client’s ability to protect his rights”.
They demanded that the ANC take the necessary steps to provide them with a “reasoned ruling” of the national disciplinary committee of appeal, a full record of its proceedings and to reverse the expulsion “with immediate effect pending proper compliance with the ANC constitution and the Constitution of the republic”.
Should the ANC fail to comply by the end of January, Zuma would approach the court for an order seeking his immediate reinstatement as an ANC member and punitive costs against the party, they said.
In a media statement, MK party MP and JG Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi said Zuma’s rights had been infringed by the ANC and that Mbalula had continued to persecute Yengeni for his role in defending the former head of state.
Manyi said that the matter “extends beyond individual grievances” and reflected “deeper concerns about the ANC’s current trajectory”.
“There is a growing perception that the organisation is being led by individuals whose actions resemble those of askaris, undermining the movement’s historic mission,” he said.
“The alarming trend of selling the organisation’s core principles to the highest bidder has been vividly demonstrated by the so-called Government of National Unity coalition with the Democratic Alliance and Freedom Front Plus.
“This case is not simply about one individual — it is about safeguarding the rights of all ANC members and preserving the values that have sustained the organisation for over a century,” he said.
ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.