‘Don’t fight to be MPs,’ MK Party’s Bonginkosi Khanyile urges members

Former MK Party (MKP) youth leader Bonginkosi Khanyile has urged party members not to fight to be on the party’s parliament and provincial legislature lists.

The party is set to make changes to its parliament list after expelling several members who were initially nominated to be MPs. Party founder Jabulani Khumalo, who took over former president Jacob Zuma’s first spot on the list, recently lost a court battle against his expulsion when he fought to remain on the party's parliament list.

Khumalo and MKP members Lebo Moepeng and Rochelle Davidson remained on the list as they were fired after the Electoral Commission of South Africa's (IEC) cut-off date for the finalisation of the candidates list on April 10.

As the party plans to replace expelled members, Khanyile appealed to youth members not to fight to be in parliament. 

“MKP youth league forces, please respect the processes of the national and provincial lists . We trust and know the MKP leadership has young people at heart, and we believe in their leadership. My direct instruction to you is that no-one must fight to be on the list for parliament,” he said. 

Khanyile was not included in the party's initial MP and MPL lists. He was removed as youth leader in April after making “reckless” public comments and threatening disruption of the elections.

The MKP has been in the spotlight this week. The party launched a legal application to stop the first sitting of parliament on Friday. The party wanted to boycott parliament as a form of protest against the May 29 election results. 

The Constitutional Court on Wednesday dismissed the party's application.

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