The Western Cape High Court has ordered uMkhonto weSizwe Party Members of Parliament Pumlani Kubukeli and Dr Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalala to be reinstated after they challenged their expulsion from the party in court.
The court delivered its ruling on Friday, finding that their membership was terminated unfairly and that the decision had prejudiced them.
The two MPs were expelled by MK Party leader Jacob Zuma in August 2026, with the party at the time stating that their conduct had harmed its reputation, integrity and interests and that they had undermined unity and organisational discipline.
However, the court held that where a termination is unfair, an appropriate remedy must follow, and that remedy in this case was to restore the applicants to the positions they held before the contested decision.
Handed down by Judge Daniel Mafeleu Thulare, the judgment therefore reinstates them as Members of Parliament with effect from the date of the disputed expulsion.
The court’s reasoning centred on how the membership terminations were carried out.
It found that subsequent attempts to justify or revisit the expulsions could not cure the failure to afford the applicants a proper opportunity to have their cases heard before the original decision was taken.
The judgment reads: “The termination of membership which is unfair means that the applicants suffered a wrong.”
The court went on to hold that justice demanded that the applicants be granted the most complete remedy possible.
The judgment also addressed submissions on whether reinstatement would be feasible, especially if their parliamentary seats had since been filled by others.
It said the feasibility of reinstatement could only be properly determined after the cases of the wronged members had been fully considered.
It cautioned that postponing reinstatement risked creating a scenario where the two MPs would later be informed that their seats in the National Assembly were no longer available.
Such an outcome, the court said, would compound the unfairness.
As a result, the ruling restores Kubukeli and Litchfield-Tshabalala to their former status, including their positions as Members of Parliament from the date of the contested expulsion.