A jubilant Mary Phadi has announced that she is gladly returning to her positions as the Mpumalanga provincial convener of the uMkhonto weSizwe party (MK), Member of the Provincial Legislature (MPL), and leader of the party within the legislature.
Phadi, who led the MK party during the May 29 general elections where the Jacob Zuma-led organisation rose to become the official opposition in Mpumalanga, was chucked out amid accusations of misappropriation of party funds.
The outspoken Phadi refused to resign from the party, before the MK party’s national leadership terminated her membership.
However, on Tuesday, the Mpumalanga High Court, based in Mbombela overturned Phadi’s expulsion, and reinstated her to her previous lucrative positions.
Speaking to journalists after her court victory, Phadi said procedure was not followed when she was chucked out of the MK outfit.
“The internal processes of uMkhonto weSizwe were not followed and because of that reason I have been reinstated as the convener of the province in Mpumalanga, I have also been reinstated as party leader in the legislature and I am also going to be a full member of the legislature. So, all those three positions that I held before, they are positions I was deserving to have, and are positions that were appointed by the president (Zuma),” she said.
“Surely, as uMkhonto weSizwe, we are going to 2026 and when you look at the crowd behind me, so many members, the ground is here. We will be talking to the president to say the common ground and understanding that we are not fighting uMkhonto weSizwe, we are just requesting that we must go to 2026 with our Nxamalala. We love Nxamalala.
“We are saying, these people of EFF must not come and take over what we have worked for. This province was number two in the country (in terms of votes garnered by MK party). That tells you that we have worked very hard,” said Phadi.
She emphasised that there was no bad blood between her and Zuma.
Last month, IOL reported that former public protector, advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane and former EFF Member of Parliament was announced as MK party’s convener in the province of Mpumalanga.
This came as political parties are preparing for the upcoming 2026 local government elections.
Mkhwebane also joined her husband, David Skosana, who is an MP representing MK party in Parliament.
IOL