ZUMA’S DAUGHTER, NDHLELA HEAD TO COURT OVER EXPULSION AS ‘FAKE INTEL’ PLOT TARGETS ‘WEAK’ SG NOMVALO

Expelled MK Party members Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, left, and former spokesman Nhlamulo Ndhlela address the media in Sandton on Sunday, 21 June 2026, where they announced they will challenge their expulsions in the High Court. Zuma-Sambudla wore a shirt reading “WHERE WERE” as the pair accused the party of setting a “dangerous precedent” by axing founding members via press release.  

By Mpho Dube, Editor-in-Chief

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JOHANNESBURG — The uMkhonto weSizwe Party descended into open warfare on Father’s Day as expelled members Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla and Nhlamulo Ndhlela announced they will challenge their expulsion in the High Court, while a fake intelligence plot targeting Secretary General Sibonelo Nomvalo was exposed by senior party sources.

The twin crises cap a week of purges and paranoia inside the MKP, with insiders now branding SG Nomvalo “weak” for failing to contain factional battles engulfing the party’s top ranks.

At a joint press briefing in Sandton on Sunday, former spokesman Ndhlela and Zuma-Sambudla — daughter of MKP leader and former President Jacob Zuma — confirmed they will instruct lawyers to approach the High Court over their expulsions.

“We learnt through the media that we had been expelled,” Ndhlela said, reading from their joint statement. 

The pair were officially axed on Thursday, 18 June 2026, at a Johannesburg briefing led by SG Sibonelo Nomvalo, with Jacob Zuma present. Nomvalo announced that national officials resolved Zuma-Sambudla and Ndhlela “acted in a manner fundamentally inconsistent with the values, discipline, constitutional principles and organisational interests of the MK Party.”

The party said Zuma-Sambudla repeatedly used public platforms and social media to promote factional narratives, challenge leadership decisions, and expose internal matters. Ndhlela was accused of acting without authority, holding unauthorised media briefings, and misrepresenting official party positions. Both were suspended earlier this year for misconduct.

“These actions created confusion among supporters, encouraged factionalism and weakened organisational discipline,” the party said.

Ndhlela told reporters the expulsions threaten every MKP member.

“This sets a dangerous precedent. Today, it's the founding members, tomorrow it may be the branch leaders, the next day it may be the councillors, then the ordinary members. If Constitutional protections can be ignored for founders of the movement, what protection remains for the ordinary members? This is why this matter affects every single MK member.”

He added: “The people did not vote for internal conflict. The people voted for economic liberation, land justice, dignity, jobs, civil rights, and transformation. They did not vote for factional battles, they did not vote for internal purges, they voted for liberation, not liquidation.”

Zuma-Sambudla refused to blame her father. 

“I don't take any responsibility. I do blame the people around the leadership and I don't feel betrayed by my father. I again blame the people around him.”

Her comments have fuelled criticism of SG Nomvalo, now the MKP’s eighth Secretary General in two years. Senior insiders told The Azanian the office is seen as “weak” for failing to enforce discipline or shield the party from internal plots.

As the expulsions landed, IOL revealed a separate plot targeting Nomvalo himself.

Last week, MKP KwaZulu-Natal caucus leader Inkosi Phathisizwe Chiliza penned a letter to party leadership alleging Nomvalo was funded by a rival party and guarded by hitmen. Chiliza called for Nomvalo’s immediate removal.

But a senior party source said the claims were based on a fake intelligence report. The report was allegedly fabricated by a senior MKP member in the KZN Legislature to “sow divisions within the party.”

“The person that is behind a plot to sow divisions within the party is now known,” the source said. “The so-called intelligence report was fake.”

Chiliza has since reached out to Nomvalo, admitting he was misled by people he believed had genuine information.

The MK Party’s Royalty and Traditional Leadership wing issued a statement urging calm. Spokesperson Prince Mandlakapheli kaMkhulumeleni Zulu said the matter is being addressed through internal processes.

“It is our view that the circulation of such information was deliberately concocted by individuals whose intentions are to create confusion, sow divisions, and cause instability within the organisation,” the statement read.

Members were urged not to spread unverified information on social media.

The MK Party insisted it “remains steadfast in holding all members to same standards,” regardless of rank or family ties. Zuma-Sambudla is Jacob Zuma’s daughter.

But on Father’s Day, the party finds itself in court against its own. Founders expelled via press release. A Secretary General battling a fake hitman smear while being called “weak” by the rank and file. And a legal fight that Ndhlela says will define protections for every ordinary member.

The Azanian will monitor the High Court challenge.

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