Overview
- Jacob Zuma announced a sweeping leadership reshuffle on Tuesday that named his son, Duduzane Zuma, first deputy president and appointed Tony Yengeni as second deputy.
- The reshuffle removed John Hlophe as first deputy and Nkosinathi Nhleko as national chair, while keeping Hlophe as the party’s parliamentary leader in the National Assembly.
- Zuma dissolved the Strategic Presidential Team, reinstated the Presidential Task Team and authorised Zandile Hlophe and Sibonelo Maphumulo as the party’s Independent Electoral Commission signatories.
- He said he would take political oversight of MK Party finances, stripped other officials of signing authority, lifted a moratorium on financial and administrative functions, and ordered secretary-general Sibonelo Nomvalo and treasurer-general Brian Molefe to return to work.
- The moves follow MK Party’s rapid rise since 2024 and have drawn analysts’ warnings that promoting a family member fuels perceptions of nepotism and could weaken the party’s cohesion and voter appeal ahead of the November 2026 local polls.