If you don’t perform, you are out of MKP, we don’t play: Zuma

The uMkhonto weSizwe Party will contest local government elections for the first time, with party president Jacob Zuma expressing confidence that it will perform well.

This comes amid continued changes in the party’s leadership, which some political analysts have described as an  unstable party and say could affect the party’s performance at the polls.

Zuma was in Midrand as the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) hosted the National Electoral Code of Conduct Signing Ceremony for political candidates contesting the 2026 Local Government Elections.

Political parties attended the ceremony and committed to respecting the rules governing free and fair elections.

By signing the Code, contestants committed to respecting the rules that support free and fair elections.

In the latest of many changes to the party’s leadership, Dr Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalala and Member of Parliament Pumlani Kubukeli were fired with immediate effect last month.

This past weekend, Zuma expelled a group of disgruntled members who staged a protest over the party’s candidate list during an interfaith prayer attended by hundreds of party members in Durban.

However, Zuma insists all these changes will not derail the party’s aspirations of winning some municipalities in the 4 November local government elections.

Speaking to SABC News at the signing ceremony of the IEC’s Code of Conduct at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, Zuma emphasises that those who didn’t perform would find themselves out in the cold.

“We don’t play. If you are not doing well, (you are out). We don’t play. You must not play … we don’t play like that,” said Zuma.

If you don’t perform, you go, that’s according to uMkhonto weSizwe Party President, Jacob Zuma, regarding the constant leadership changes within the party. #SABCNews #IEC pic.twitter.com/trU24GkZet

— Sipho King K Kekana (@KingKAzania) September 23, 2026

Litchfield-Tshabalala

Litchfield-Tshabalala said at the time she was not informed of the reasons behind her expulsion from the party.

The party had said the decision followed a series of acts and conduct deemed detrimental to its good name, reputation, integrity, and interests, saying the pair had undermined the party’s unity and organisational discipline.

Litchfield-Tshabalala denied this.

“They say I have brought MKP into disrepute. I think, if anything, my character has been brought into disrepute through this process. I don’t know what is going on. But what I like, also, is that the truth has the ability to come out in whatever way. There is no way the truth stays under the bed forever. The lie does not stand the test of time. The truth does come out.”