Axed MK Party Secretary Nomvalo: Zuma Signed My Dismissal — But Regret May Follow

Sibonelo Nomvalo clutched his dismissal paperwork outside the uMkhonto weSizwe Party headquarters last week, speaking with the measured calm of a man who had rehearsed this moment many times before. The axed Secretary General harbours zero doubt about who authorised his removal from one of South Africa’s fastest-growing political formations. Jacob Zuma, he insists, personally endorsed every letter that stripped him of his position. The former official stepped forward publicly on Wednesday, refusing to let the matter dissolve into silence.

Nomvalo told reporters the documentation bearing the MK Party president’s endorsement was unambiguous — signatures, dates, and directives all pointing toward the same conclusion. “I have no doubts that President Zuma signed those dismissal letters,” he stated, his voice steady and direct. Yet the ousted official left room for a striking possibility: should someone place verified evidence before the 82-year-old former statesman, remorse could shift the political landscape entirely. “If facts can be presented to him, he can regret signing those letters,” Nomvalo revealed.

MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela confirmed the Secretary General’s removal was procedurally consistent with the party’s internal disciplinary framework. Neither Ndhlela nor senior leadership offered detail on what specific conduct triggered the termination. Zuma’s personal office had not responded to written queries regarding his direct involvement by the time this report went to publication.

Nomvalo served as Secretary General during a turbulent growth period for the MKP, which secured over 14 percent of the national vote during the May 2024 general elections. Internal tensions have fractured the organisation repeatedly since that electoral breakthrough, with multiple senior figures facing suspension, reassignment, or outright expulsion. Factional battles over strategic direction and resource allocation have drawn comparisons to the ANC’s own prolonged internal collapse.

A longtime party supporter who travelled from KwaZulu-Natal to witness Nomvalo’s address described watching the veteran official pause mid-sentence, lower the documentation briefly, then raise his gaze toward the gathered crowd — a fleeting, wordless acknowledgment of everything left unspoken between leadership and loyalty.

The fundamental question now hanging over this saga is whether anyone within the MK Party’s inner circle possesses both the courage and the access necessary to place those contradicting facts directly before Zuma himself. And if they do — will he actually listen.