According to an analyst, Jacob Zuma presides over all MK party appointments.
The MK party (MKP) says it is gearing up for the upcoming local government elections and has announced party leaders to lead its election campaign in various provinces.
In a letter sent to all MK party members and published on Tuesday, the party secretary, Sibonelo Nomvalo, said the individuals were appointed through consultative processes.
He described the structures as provincial election task teams, “following a national consultative process where ordinary members of the MKP deliberated on the party’s elections programme, and identified capable leadership that will coordinate and manage the MKP’s 2026 Local Government Elections programme,” said Nomvalo.
More announcements expected
He announced the task teams for four provinces, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the Eastern Cape. Nomvalo mentioned that the lists announced could be “augmented.” He said the announcement of leaders from other provinces would be made in phases.
“The announcement of the remaining five provincial and all regional structures across the country will be made in the next coming few days. All provincial structures will be constituted of a total of 22 members.
“The secretary-general will provide all elected structures with Terms of Reference outlining the functions, duties and key deliverables across all levels (i.e. provincial, regional and sub-regional/zonal).”
This announcement from the MK party has sparked debate about internal democracy. According to a News24 report, the party believes that it could be infiltrated by the ANC through processes such as elective conferences.
How do appointments work in the MK party?
According to political analyst Dirk Kotzé from the University of South Africa (Unisa), the MK party has not held an elective conference to choose its national and provincial leaders. However, he said the party has not violated its own constitution, as there is no rule compelling it to hold such a conference.
“Their constitution does not provide for any form of elective process; their appointments are done by what they call their National High Command, which is like their National Executive Committee, and then it must be approved by their president, Jacob Zuma.
“That is the only way that appointments are made; some of these appointments are actually just made by the president, and that is how their constitution determined things, it’s not that they are acting against their constitution,” he said.
But Kotzé said the absence of elective structures in the MK party is problematic for internal democracy.
“This is highly problematic because this shows how they look at democracy in general, and it also shows what one can expect when they are in power,” he said.
Kotzé said the MK party is not the only party that has problematic internal democratic processes. He added that ActionSA has also not held an elective conference for any of its structures since its formation.
“It is different parties like the ANC, DA, IFP and to some extent the EFF that normally have elections; the other parties are not so engaged in internal democratic processes,” he said.
Personality politics
Another political analyst, Theo Neethling, told The Citizen that South Africa is in an era of personality politics where individuals become the face and the backbone of the party.
“The EFF revolves heavily around Julius Malema, and while the party holds conferences, the critics argue that internal dissent is limited and leadership outcomes are largely pre-determined. Even the IFP, we all know that it was historically dominated by Mangosuthu Buthelezi for decades, in fact, with leadership transitions tightly managed rather than openly contested.
“The PA is also strongly associated with the person of Gayton McKenzie, thus a highly personalised leadership style, the same could apply to GOOD led by Patricia De Lille, while formally structured, it remains tied to a political brand.
“In these cases, the issue is not lack of electoral legitimacy but rather limited internal party democracy,” he said.
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