MK Party eThekwini mayoral candidate Apostle Mxolisi Phakathi says he is too busy campaigning in the local government elections to entertain allegations made against by former party secretary-general Sibonelo Nomvalo.
UMkhonto weSizwe Party’s (MKP) eThekwini mayoral candidate Apostle Mxolisi Phakathi says he will only focus on former party secretary-general (SG) Sibonelo Nomvalo’s allegation against him after the elections.
Phakathi said he did not want to be distracted from focusing on winning one of the country’s biggest metros.
Nomvalo alleged that Phakathi and former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede were among party leaders who plotted his downfall by peddling lies to their leader, Jacob Zuma, which led to his removal from the position and Parliament.
Nomvalo made the allegations in a letter he wrote to Zuma on October 22, which is circulating on social media, and repeated them in a press brief in Durban on Friday.
When asked to respond, Phakathi, who is MKP national chairperson, said, “I don’t play the man, I play the ball.”
“We will engage him after elections, because right now we are very busy focusing on preparing our party agencies,” he said.
Gumede, who defected from the ANC on July 13 to be appointed MKP’s KwaZulu-Natal deputy convener, has not responded to a request for comment.
Phakathi accused Nomvalo of political bankruptcy.
“He knows what he has been doing, and in due time people will know what is happening,” he said.
He is confident that Nomvalo’s allegations will not sway eThekwini voters from voting for the MKP on Wednesday.
“Whatever you do now will not change what our people think, as they have already made their decision,” said Phakathi, who is the pastor of the Twelve Apostles’ Church in Christ (TACC).
In firing Nomvalo, Zuma raised concerns about the party’s election candidate nomination process, internal factionalism, delays in distributing campaign materials, changes within the Parliamentary caucus without leadership approval, and the establishment of high-level deployment committees without the knowledge of the leadership structures.
In a letter to Zuma, Nomvalo said the propaganda against him started when he was appointed SG.
He said certain party leaders have been spreading fake intelligence-based rumours.
He told Zuma that he has evidence and witnesses to support his claim that Gumede and Phakathi are among the people bringing factionalism into the party.
“Their strong desire currently is to have control of deployments for the local municipalities hence they came to you with fake reports a day after I announced the local elections deployment committees, which was the resolution of national officials.
“Therefore, it is not a coincidence that a day after I advised structures to establish deployment committees, Apostle Phakathi and Cde. Zandile Gumede came to you in Zimbali to peddle only lies about me with the motive of removing me,” he wrote.
During the press briefing, Nomvalo said he first heard about the decision to remove him on October 2.
He said his confidential sources informed him earlier that certain leaders, including Phakathi and Gumede, were facilitating his removal.
He counted a number of what he called fake intelligence reports against him, including that he stole money from the party to buy cattle, which he said were submitted to Zuma.
“In fact these cows were procured in 2023 when I was practising as an attorney,” said Nomvalo.
He said that he approached Zuma requesting to resign or alternatively Zuma appoint his son Duduzane Zuma as the first deputy president.
He said he wanted Duduzane to take signing powers from his father, whom he said would sign based on wrong information.
He said Zuma agreed to appoint Duduzane and requested that he not resign.
He alleged that Phakathi spread information that, while Zuma was in hospital, Zuma gave him (Phakathi) instructions to lead a team involving him and Gumede that would consolidate the party’s proportional representation and KwaZulu-Natal mayoral candidates for the elections.
“This happened after I had received calls from some comrades who were telling me that Phakathi was saying he would deploy mayors in KZN and that they should stay away from me if they want to be deployed.
“I then requested someone who went to see the president in hospital to confirm if he indeed gave such instructions, and that person said the president said he never gave such instructions,” he said.
Nomvalo said he then used powers given to him by the national officials to instruct structures to formulate deployment committees across the country.
“I consulted the first deputy president for his concurrence, and he agreed,” he said.
He said that after he had sent the instructions, Phakathi and Gumede told Zuma to make various allegations against him, including that he fired eight people in Parliament.
“This was a deliberate misinterpretation of a decision made by the chief whip to change her whippery in Parliament.
“The chief whip went to visit President Zuma three days ago to explain,” he said.
Nomvalo denied the allegation that he tampered with the candidate list, saying that he had nothing to do with it.
“The president appointed people who are going to deal with the list, and they can better explain what transpired in that process,” he said.
He said another unfounded allegation was that voters in more than 30 eThekwini wards threatened not to vote for MKP if he is not removed as the secretary-general.
He said another lie was that he received money from certain politicians from outside the MKP in exchange for sabotaging the MKP.
On the day of Nomvalo’s demotion, Zuma instructed MKP parliamentary leader John Hlophe to reverse decisions to change whippery and restore it to its composition and arrangements as they were before the change.
MKP spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu did not respond when asked if Zuma or MKP was in a position to respond to Nomvalo’s allegations.