The leadership war inside the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party has escalated to the highest court in the land, as ousted founder Jabulani Khumalo makes a dramatic Constitutional Court bid to dethrone former president Jacob Zuma and reclaim control of the party he says was “stolen” from him.
Filed on August 12, 2025, Khumalo’s urgent application seeks to overturn his April 2024 expulsion from the MK Party and declare Zuma’s controversial appointment as leader legally invalid. At the heart of the explosive claims is a letter dated April 9, 2024 — the document that allegedly handed over leadership to Zuma — which Khumalo says was a forgery orchestrated by Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla.
Khumalo isn’t only fighting to return as leader; he’s also asking the court to reinstate his preferred leadership lineup, including Nhlakanipho Khumalo as secretary-general and Bhekizenzo Manzini as treasurer-general. He’s further demanding that the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) officially recognize his faction as the legitimate leadership of the MK Party.
The Constitutional Court has scheduled the matter for hearing on August 28, with Zuma expected to file his response by August 22.
This isn’t Khumalo’s first attempt to legally unseat Zuma. A previous challenge in the Electoral Court was thrown out in June 2024, with judges slamming the fraud allegations as “frivolous” and siding with Zuma’s leadership. Despite the defeat — and a punitive costs order — Khumalo is pressing ahead, determined to have his day in the Constitutional Court.
MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela has already brushed off the fresh legal assault, calling it a desperate, baseless effort — possibly fueled by the ANC, he alleged. “This is nothing new,” Ndhlela said, accusing Khumalo of dragging the party into political theatrics.
With court dates looming and tensions rising, the MK Party’s internal war is set to test not only the patience of the judiciary but also the resilience of a party born in controversy — and now battling over who truly speaks in its name.
