MK party leader Jacob Zuma has suspended the membership of former Western Cape judge president John Hlophe as well as removing him as head of its parliamentary caucus.
This follows Hlophe’s unilateral suspension of Colleen Makhubele as the party’s chief whip in parliament, replacing her with former finance minister Des van Rooyen.
The sequence of events began earlier this week when Hlophe, who is also the MK’s first deputy president, without apparent consultation, removed Makhubele as parliamentary chief whip and appointed Van Rooyen. The party reacted by reversing the appointment and suspending Hlophe.
Zuma is believed to have known about Hlophe’s decision to change the leadership of the whippery in parliament only when he returned from a trip to Burkina Faso.
Hlophe was the first judge to be impeached in democratic SA’s history. He joined the MK party as an MP after his impeachment.
“The decision taken by Dr Hlophe to remove Cde Colleen Makhubele and appoint Des van Rooyen is therefore nullified,” the party said in a statement.
“The president has taken the decision to issue a precautionary suspension to the party’s deputy president and the leader of the MKP parliament caucus, Dr John Hlophe, from both his leadership roles with immediate effect, pending a full investigation on his conduct.”
The suspension of Hlophe follows Zuma’s appointment of Tony Yengeni as the second deputy president of the party, a position specifically created for him.
MK party has experienced internal upheaval since its formation, including the dismissal of key officials and ongoing legal disputes, which has created leadership instability within the party.
Its founder, Jabulani Khumalo, was expelled and in June Floyd Shivambu was fired as secretary general, ostensibly on the grounds that he visited fugitive pastor Shepherd Bushiri’s church in Malawi. Shivambu claimed it was due to a fake intelligence report claiming he wanted to overthrow Zuma.
With Linda Ensor
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