Ten former members of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party stripped of their party membership and parliamentary seats believe that the absence of the organisation’s final constitution renders their removal from Parliament unlawful.
They have turned to the Western Cape High Court seeking relief after they were notified by National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza on August 7 that the party’s chief whip, Sihle Ngubane, informed her that their membership was terminated and all internal processes were exhausted.
The former MPs have now filed two applications, which include one to stop the filling of their parliamentary seats pending the consideration of the application to review and set aside the termination of their membership to the party and the National Assembly.
In both applications, the MK Party and Didiza have been cited as respondents.
The matter was to be heard on Wednesday but Judge Nathan Erasmus postponed the case to next month after engaging the legal representatives for the parties.
He said Didiza would abide by the court’s decision, while the MK Party was opposing the application.
The court papers showed that the former members filed the interdict application on Tuesday, a day after Parliament could not make an undertaking not to fill the positions.
In their notice of motion, the applicants want the court to stop the filling of their positions and the stopping of their parliamentary benefits pending the review application.
Former member Thamsanqa Fortune Khuzwayo said in his affidavit that they were denied access to their parliamentary accommodation on Monday, but were informed that they have 30 days to vacate the residences after intervention from their lawyers.
Parliament has indicated to the former MPs that without an interdict, their seats would be taken by other people before their review application was considered.
“Without an interdict on an urgent basis, the applicants’ rights to challenge their expulsion and the applicants’ rights to challenge the respondents’ decision in the above-mentioned review application would be curtailed,” he said.
Khuzwayo asked the court to declare that they remain members of the MK Party until their membership is lawfully terminated in terms provided by the MK Party’s constitution and to set aside the decision to stop their membership to the National Assembly.
“There was no process followed in the termination of the applicants’ membership of the respondent.”
He claimed that the MK Party does not have a constitution or a code of conduct as well as procedures to discipline members other than a draft constitution, which has yet to be ratified at a congress.
Khuzwayo said their expulsion was inconsistent with the party’s draft constitution.
“It is submitted that in absence of a ratified constitution, the party is governed by the South African Constitution, the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act and the common law.”
He accused the party of expelling them without affording them an opportunity to dispute the allegations against them.
“The respondents’ administrative decision has left all the applicants unemployed without any due process and in a manner that is inconsistent with our constitutional rights.”
MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said the party would not tolerate any members who dragged it to court.
“Ours is clear – we are not going to allow people just to drag the party to court willy-nilly. We will act against those people like we did with the (expelled founding leader) Jabulani Khumalo,” said Ndhlela.
“We are a serious organisation and we will not want to be sidetracked by these people,” he added.
He was optimistic the party would win the case brought forward by the axed MPs.
Cape Times