Jacob Zuma sacks MKP secretary-general days after leaving hospital

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Opens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowEnter fullscreen mode displaying this image.ExpandMK Party leader Jacob Zuma fired the party’s secretary-general, Sibonelo Nomvalo, on Thursday. Picture: Sandile Ndlovu Story audio is generated using AI

Just days after being discharged from hospital, MK Party leader Jacob Zuma fired his party’s eighth secretary-general, Sibonelo Nomvalo, amid claims Nomvalo used Zuma’s absence to introduce far-reaching changes to the party’s leadership structure, demote senior MPs, and keep other leaders in the dark about the party’s election campaign.

Nomvalo, who has also been sacked as an MP, was further accused by the MK Party of double-dipping in that he was receiving two salaries — one as secretary-general and another as a parliamentarian.

Zuma fired Nomvalo on Thursday, barely a week after the former president returned to his Nkandla residence after nearly two weeks in a Pietermaritzburg hospital, to which he had been admitted after suddenly falling ill during campaigning in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.

“This decision,” Zuma wrote in a letter to Nomvalo, “follows concerns regarding the councillor selection process; the creation of the high-level deployment committees without the knowledge of the president, national officials and the presidency collective; delays in [distributing] campaign materials; parliamentary whippery changes that were not communicated to the party leadership; internal factionalism; and … dual remuneration [from] the National Assembly and the party.”

An MK Party insider told the Sunday Times that what had angered Zuma the most were the changes Nomvalo made to the party’s parliamentary caucus.

“What broke the camel’s back was how Nomvalo decided to contact parliament and move the committee whips around, which was not done in consultation with or [with] the approval of anybody else. He touched people like [former Transnet boss] Siyabonga Gama. [These people] were placed in parliament by Zuma himself, and [their] names were a no-go zone considering their relationship with the president.”

He created a so-called deployment committee, which would have had the mandate to decide who gets backed as a mayor or speaker in the various councils that we are going to win

A letter penned by the party’s chief whip, Philasande Mkhize, allegedly under Nomvalo’s instruction, made sweeping changes to the party’s whippery as well as completely dissolving its extended whippery.

“The following appointments and responsibilities are discontinued with immediate effect: Hon Adil Nchabeleng is removed as constituency whip, [and] Hon David Skosana and Hon Pinky Mngadi are removed as elections whips. The extended whippery, also referred to as the political governance whippery, is hereby dissolved with immediate effect,” read the letter.

The insider said Nomvalo’s establishment of a deployment committee would have usurped some of the powers the party had reserved for Zuma and his inner circle.

“He created a so-called deployment committee, which would have had the mandate to decide who gets backed as a mayor or speaker in the various councils that we are going to win,” said the source. “Everyone knows that the prerogative to appoint anyone in the party lies with the president, so the creation of another centre of power really upset uBaba [Zuma].”

The deployment committee ruffled many feathers, particularly MK Party deputy president Duduzane Zuma and second deputy president Tony Yengeni, who were not aware of the new structure.

“This deployment committee that Nomvalo set up was a coup of sorts,” the insider said. “It had the power to decide not only on [Electoral Commission of South Africa] candidate lists but … [also] on who becomes mayor, speaker, [and so on]. Officials felt it [was] a parallel structure centralising power in Nomvalo’s hands and [taking it] away from Zuma and the presidency. It has since been dissolved.”

Zuma’s letter also cites Nomvalo’s alleged failures with regard to the MK Party’s election campaign. He essentially accused him of delaying the distribution of campaign materials to party structures.

“Members on the ground are suffering from low morale [when it comes to campaigning],” said the party insider. “They have not been given resources to campaign effectively. There was an event in Phoenix where uBaba unveiled the campaign T-shirt as well as party-branded bakkies, with accompanying boards and posters. We have not seen those distributed.”

It is alleged Zuma was informed about and shown images of these campaign materials gathering dust in storage, and this is said to have drawn the ire of the former president, given the closeness of election day.

“Even the number of T-shirts printed and other party materials [on offer] are [only available] in their thousands — nowhere near the volume discussed for purchase and distribution,” the insider said. “There was no explanation as to why they’re sitting in storage instead of being given to our volunteers to distribute [to potential voters] during door-to-door [canvassing].”

Though he received a salary as an MP, Nomvalo is accused of having taken a decision to pay himself an additional salary as secretary-general.

“Upon his appointment, though it might not have been formally communicated, the president might have expected that Nomvalo would keep his MP’s salary and not require payment for his SG role,” the insider said. “However, Nomvalo saw it fit to allocate himself a salary from the party as compensation for his duties. What makes it worse is that this was unknown and not approved.”

Nomvalo was not only sacked as secretary-general but was also removed from the party’s caucus in parliament, meaning he is no longer an MP. It remains unknown whether he will remain an ordinary member of the MK Party in the wake of his dramatic dismissal.

He could not be reached for comment yesterday despite numerous attempts to contact him.

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